My Happy Ending
by twirlonwater
Summary: Post-Eclispe Bella's happy ending turns sour when she stumbles into troubles while Edward is gone before the wedding. The effect is diabolitical, and Bella might have to be changed now to save her very life. Rated M for Rape, Language, Sex! Please, R&R!
1. Prologue

A/N

This is a very, very short chapter. The reason is that this is the prologue, and it is setting up the story. Be warned this story will turn sad in times. Additionally, it will be graphic, etc. It is rated M for a reason. Not this chapter, but quite soon. I hope not to offend anyone later by not understanding the upcoming contact. I hope that you enjoy. Please, hang in with me, and wait till the upcoming chapters to judge to harshly. It will have action, etc. Please, hang in there. Till then, please enjoy again, and review.

Music: No music for this exact chapter except "Tide" by Spill Canvas

PS: Listen to "My Happy Ending" by Avril Lavinge. It is not my usual taste in music, but it is good and pertains to the story.

Enjoy.

Twirl

"My Happy Ending"

"Love, are you sure you do not mind?" Edward asked as I looked through the clothes in the closet- most of them assembled by the devilish pixie, Alice. I wondered what horrors she placed in there throughout earlier today.

"Of course, hunt. Have fun with Emmett and Jasper and everyone. The quicker you leave, the earlier you get home." I smiled, even though the thought of leaving was painful. The entire family would be gone for three days to hunt. I knew additionally that it was necessary for Edward to be prepared for our wedding night, our very human wedding night.

"I know; I can't wait for the four days till you are Bella Cullen. What are you going to do till around here?" It seemed as though he could read my mind sometimes, knowing where my mind was upon. His smile was starting to break, waiting my response.

"I am going to go to Port Angelas tomorrow to the bookstore. Forever is a long time with only Wuthering Heights," I joked. As soon as I uttered the words, I realized that I should not be joking about that. I might hurt Edward. Even though he agreed and supported now my change, it was still a sore area.

"Please, be careful. I could never forgive myself if anything happened to you." Edward begged.

"I'll be careful, and Alice will know if anything is going to happen. I'll miss you."

"Miss you, too. I love you, Bella."

"I know. I love you, too." And with a chaste kiss on my lips, Edward dashed out of the house. Three days would be a long time to wait till he returned home. Of course, I knew that he needed to hunt, especially with our wedding night on the horizon. The last human experience I needed to have before I would begin forever with Edward.

After taking care of countless human moments in the bathroom and taking a long shower to relax my tense muscles, I climbed into bed, still anxious of the days ahead. Dreaming of Edward and the boundless days of forever ahead, I drifted off into sleep. Never in my mind would I believe the horror that would be stumbled upon…would I ever get my happy ending?


	2. Chapter 1: A Walk to Remember

**A/N:**

**Hey All.**

**I wanted to thank-you for all the story alerts and everything for the first chapter. Here is the first real chapter. I hope that you enjoy it. Please, let me know what your thoughts are. Whether you love it or hate it, please let me know. It takes just a couple of seconds to leave a review. I would greatly appreciate it. Let me know what you would like to happen or anything. **

**Also, if you would like to chat or have a good story, please let me know. I am always looking for great stories to read. The funny thing is that I almost like reviewing as much as reading stories. I love suggestions.**

**Make sure everyone checks out the teaser trailer. I had to watch it about ten times. I love that one of my favorite is being made into a movie, everytime.**

**Quote of the Chapter:**

**"I believe we survive, George. I believe that believing we survive is what makes us survive." Grey's Anatomy. A wonderful show.**

**Song of the Chapter:**

"**Chasing Pavements." Adele**

**Something Corporate: Konstantine**

**Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer. If I was, then I would give you Breaking Dawn instead of this story. **

**Enjoy.**

**Twirl**

As the light grew stronger as the morning dragged on, I eventually climbed out of bed. I did not want to end the dream I had, a perfect dream of Edward and I together happy after our wedding forever. What ruin a perfect thing?

Finally, around eleven o'clock, I managed to stumble out of bed. Waking up to natural devices rather than my personal Greek god is quite a difference, a difference that I am glad to be able to avoid quite soon. After grabbing an outfit picked out my Alice and my toiletries, I entered the bathroom to begin my morning routine.

The outfit that Alice picked out was rather modest compared to her latest fashions. It was simply a pair of light blue jeans and a v-neck blue blouse. The color of blue was always Edward's favorite. Next to the outfit was a note. I prepared to see Edward's elegant writing but was stunned to see Alice's.

_Bella,_

_Here is an outfit for your day. It is quite comfortable, and I thought you would like. Be careful, and I will be watching._

_Your future sis,_

_Alice_

I stripped down to my bra and underwear to put on the outfit, brushed my teeth, and washed my face. Alice was lately recommending (a.k.a. demanding) wearing make-up. I was complying, however today I did not see a need. I was not going to be with Edward, nor with any of my future family members.

Surprising myself, I managed to go downstairs, eat breakfast, and walk out to the truck without an incident. Edward would be proud, I thought to myself as I climbed into the automobile. It would be a long drive to Port Angelas that I was driving now. At least, I was safer driving somewhere close to the speed limit, even if it was a little under compared to the 100 mile an hour speed Edward insisted.

Turning on the new radio that Edward put in a couple of months ago, I settled on a station that was playing "Konstantine" by Something Corporate. As the lyrics began, I found myself singing along.

_I can't imagine all the people that you know  
and the places that you go  
when the lights are turned down low  
and I don't understand all the things you've seen  
but I'm slipping in between  
you and your big dreams  
it's always you  
in my big dreams_

and you tell me that it's over  
wake up lying in a patch of four leaf clovers  
and your restless, and i'm naked  
you've gotta get out  
you can't stand to see me shaking  
no  
could you let me go?  
I didn't think so

and you don't wanna be here in the future  
so you say the present's just a pleasent interruption to the past  
and you don't wanna look much closer  
cuz your afraid to find out all this hope  
you had sent into the sky by now had crashed  
and it did  
because of me

and then you bring me home  
afraid to find out that you're alone  
and i'm sleeping in your living room  
but we don't have much room to live

I had these dreams that i learned to play guitar  
maybe cross the country  
become a rock star  
and there was hope in me that i could take you there  
but dammit you're so young  
well i don't think i care  
and if i hurt you  
then i'm sorry  
please don't think that this was easy

then you bring me home  
cuz we both know what it's like to be alone  
and i'm dreaming in your living room  
but we don't have much room to live

and konstantine is walking down the stairs  
doesn't she look good  
standing in her underwear  
and i was thinking  
what i was thinking  
we've been drinking and it doesn't get me anywhere

my Konstantine came walking down the stairs  
and all that i could do is touch her long blonde hair  
and i've been thinking  
it hurts me thinking that these nights  
when we were drinking no they never got us anywhere  
no  
  
_this is because i can spell konfusion with a k  
and i like it  
it's to dying in another's arms and why I had to try it  
it's to jimmy eat world and those nights in my car  
when the first star you see may not be a star  
I'm not your star  
isn't that what you said  
what you thought this song meant_

and if this is what it takes  
just to lie in my mistakes  
and live with what i did to you  
and all the hell I put you through  
I always catch the clock  
it's 11:11  
and now you want to talk  
it's not hard to dream  
you'll always be my konstantine

konstantine, they'll never hurt you like i do  
no they'll never hurt you like i do  
no, no, no no no no no no

this is to a girl who got into my head  
with all the pretty things she did  
hey  
you know  
you keep me up in bed  
this is to a girl who got into my head  
with all the fucked up things i did  
hey  
maybe  
baby  
you could keep me up in bed  
my Konstantine  
spin around me like a dream we played out on this movie screen  
and i said  
did you know i missed you? x7  
oh god i miss you

and then you bring me home  
and we'll go to sleep, but this time, not alone, no no  
and you'll kiss me in your living room  
i know  
you'll miss me in your living room  
cuz these nights i think maybe that i'll miss you in my living room  
we don't have much room  
i said does anybody need that room?  
because we all need a little more room  
to live

Somehow I felt an instant connection to the song. The words reminded myself of Edward and I during that darken months we spent apart. The part of hopefully my incredibly long life that I would wish to forget. However, as much as I tried to forget those months, I still felt as though I was "forbidden to remember, terrified to forget."

The time flew by as the scenes passed out in front of my eyes. I was lost in my thoughts. As much as I was sure of my future and adamant about what I wanted, do not all brides get some nerves? Is not everyone a little bit nervous before they get married? And they are not getting married for eternity… Yet, every time I thought about it, I was so sure of my decisions. I was getting married to the love of my life. I was getting married and would be able to spend every minute of forever with him. What is better than that?

Due to being in a river of thoughts, I arrived before I could comprehend the drive. I pulled up along the walk and parked next to the same bookstore that almost two years ago I understand the love of my existence.

I ambled up the pathway and entered the bookstore. Entering the bookstore, I was ambushed by thousands of thoughts and memories of the past. Memories of what happened two years ago, memories of the what-ifs in my life. It was like I was walking upon a stage where everyone could see my life, my past, and my future. And I was the only one, entering this blind. They had the script before them…

Yet, as strange as it might seem, walking upon this stage, upon my past was the surest thing I have done in the past few weeks. It reminded me of the many memories of Edward, of my life before, during, and even after meeting him. At this point in the past, when I walked upon this step, I was living without Edward, without his constant love and presence. Being reminded of a time when we was not in my life reassured me of how very much I needed him in there. I needed him more than I needed to live. For, what is life without your heart, what is life without hope…

Overcoming the thoughts of the past, I went on with my shopping trip. Without any interruptions from Alice or anyone, I was able to take my time, crawling along the books and witnessing the lines of my favorite authors. Knowing my own copies of _Romeo and Juliet_ and _Wuthering Heights_ were bruised and battered, I thought of picking up new copies. I picked up _Romeo and Juliet_ and the book turned to a random page. Looking upon the script, I found the lines:

_"__Give me my Romeo, and when he shall die, _

_Take him and cut him out in little stars, _

_And he will make the face of heaven so fine _

_That all the world will be in love with night _

_And pay no worship to the garish sun."_

Rethinking my decision, I decided that I would keep my old copies of the books. For, I really did prefer old fashioned things…

After two hours of reading random books and living the lives of the characters, I was done. I had occupied eight books. I walked up to the cash-register and went to pull out the wallet from my jacket pocket. Instead of finding my wallet, I found a card with a note around it.

_-Isabella,_

_In three days, you will be my wife. Here is a card for you, please accept it. Remember what is mine is also yours._

_With all my love,_

_Edward._

Upon reading the note twice, I looked down on the name on the card, Isabella Marie Cullen. I felt tings in my eyes as I looked over the name. It was my name. I felt a new sense of love echo throughout my body. I loved the sound of my name, especially when it was said through his lips. I was ecstatic as I handed him the VISA card. I did not want to know what the spending limit was on it. However, since I had no other money and it did say my name, I had to use it.

I took the purchase from the cashier and went outside. I found the truck and placed the purchase in the front seat. I looked at my watch and saw it was dawning upon 5:00pm. Charlie knew I was going to be away tonight and was spending the night watching the game with Billy. My stomach began to growl, and I decided to eat here rather than waiting to get home. Leaving the truck in the lot, I decided to walk for old time sakes to find something to eat. I knew that Edward would prefer that I drove or ate at home, but it was daylight, and there was no harm in walking. Pushing aside any negative thoughts, I grabbed the card from the bag and began walking down the side street. Suddenly, I realized the sights were very familiar, and I was once again down the street where Edward saved me. However, this time there was no threat, no men, nothing to be afraid of.

I continued down the street looking at the sides of the houses on the right and the small businesses along the boardwalk. Feeling strangely at ease, I slowed my pace and began to take in the sights even more. To my right on the corner was a small park. There was a pavilion in behind of it, and it looked like the type of place reserved for small parties. In from of the pavilion stood a volleyball court, and directly to the left, on the other side of the garden was a swing set. Failing to remember the last time I was on a swing, I decided to walk over.

I sat down and began to pump my legs faster and faster till I was soaring in the air. I felt strangely like a small child. The wind was pouring through my long hair. And I felt the rush through every motion. It was better than running with Edward because I was in control, in addition to the lack of becoming nauseated.

"Hello, sugar..." a strangely familiar voice rang through the air. I was too busy occupied with the strange feeling of flying that I did not notice his calling. Perhaps if I was not so distracted that I would not notice the group of men that were beginning to surround the playground.

"Bitch, did you hear me? Get your ass done here?" That calling I did hear. I was suddenly taken back from the new circumstance. Around the swings was a group of five men. The men formed a pentagon around me. I was trapped. I was completely lost of what to do. No sound of Edward's voice rang through my head this time. My possibilities were slim. Remembering animal instincts from biology class, I knew that I would either go in flight or fight mode. I was no competition to five strong men, yet I would give them a hell of a struggle if it came to that. And running was never my strong suit.

I saw an opening. I was currently soaring through the air, way above them. If they would happen to go in front of the swing to grab me, I would be able to kick them off. Perhaps, maybe just perhaps… I could jump over them and take off running and screaming as I go from these true monsters. It was a chance. It was better than trying to fight them off.

"I love you, Edward," I whispered into the air as I jumped from the swing into the air over the head of the strongest guy in front of me. This was my chance to get back to Edward. I could feel my body through the air as all my body felt relax in the air. And yet, as soon as I was relaxed, I could feel my body make sudden contact with the ground. I should have known that my clumsy self would not allow me to make an easy escape after falling from over ten feet. To my utmost horror, I landed on my ankle and let out a cry of pain as I heard a crunch. I prayed that it was just sprained, yet the pain radiated throughout my entire body. My plan has failed. I would not be able to run, and just let myself in an even more compromising position.

The men began to surround me on all sides. Seeing the faces of pure delight and lust stretched into their eyes, I began to scream in fright, for one of the first times in my life. I was not afraid for my life, I was afraid for Edward…for what would happen if I died.

"HELP ME… PLEASE HELP ME!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"We got a feisty one, don't we here. She should make it even more fun." The slim guy behind spoke as the group formed another circle around me.

Trying my luck again, I screamed yet as soon as the words escaped my month, the big, burly guy pushed his hand over my mouth.

"Be quiet, bitch, and it will go better for you." He snarled into my ear. My body was in trembles over what the "it" they were describing.

Another man walked up behind me and began to restrain my body, I rotated as fast as I could back and forth to get the filthy hands off of my. This attempt just seemed to make them latch on hard. The burly guy slipped his hands down the small of my back to my butt. He grabbed it and squeezed as his other hand crawled down my pants. I was shaking even more as he squeezed the other cheek, yet it was naked this time. One of the other men took off a backpack as the guy shoved me out of the park and into a dark alley way where a van stood with the back doors open. I remembered a tale that Renee told me whenever I was younger. There were recent kidnappings from the local mall in Phoniex. She said to raise hell if you would ever be made to get in a van, because once you are in there, you are as good as dead. It seemed a bit paranoid to me, yet the words rang through my ears at the moment. I started kicking and moving my hands as much as possible. I could not get in that van. I needed Edward, I needed to survive, not only for me, but for Edward. I had to survive, and I would survive. My struggles proved to no avail and actually seemed to make the men happy. The majority of their evil faces turned into slight smiles as I thrashed my arms against the man's chest.

"Easy, there will be plenty of time for that later." One of the man cooed from the background. The man with the background pulled out handcuffs along with a long piece of material. The man walked over with me with a huge grin.

The burly man took over his hand over my mouth just long enough for the man to wrap the piece of material around my mouth shuffling my cries.

"That's much better, isn't it, bitch? No more cries from you." He spoke with an evil sense of happiness. He reached behind my back and locked the handcuffs over my wrists. After the new sense of bondage, the burly man took my right arm, and another guy grabbed the left. There grips both made my skin burn under their tight grasp. The man with the backpack once more returned and grabbed a long needle.

"Get her in the van first." He spoke to the two men. He seemed to be the leader. The two men picked me up from my arms and dragged me to the open doors. I tried to kick the man, yet my hurt ankle did not allow for much a fight. I felt a pain radiate through my back as one of the other men kicked me for my attempts, for my last struggles for freedom. The door slammed to me horror. The two men that restrained me were in the back with me, in addition to the leader. The other two men were in the front seat. It dawned at me the slight humor of the situation. It took five strong men to take me. At least, I did not go down easy.

"Turn her over." The leader ordered to the two men. I was shoved order and forced to lay on my stomach in the cramped van as it took at off at high speeds. The man shoved his forearm down on the crook of my neck prohibiting me from looking at anything. The pain was radiating throughout my body from the fall, the kick, and now the arm.

"Pull down her pants. It will enter faster if we give it to the bitch in her ass." The leader ordered once again. Terror filled my mind. What are they going to do? I thought they were going to rape me… but what about that would make it go faster? I was able to turn my head slightly as the leader pulled out a long needle with ample liquid in it.

Fright would not accurately describe the situation. I was trembling. Was this the last moment I would be alive? What did they want? Were they going to kill me now? At least, that would make it go quick? Quick is always better, right? I wished I could see Edward once more, one more time. Earlier today, I had forever, and now it seemed as though I had seconds left. What happened? What the fuck happened to my life? Why did I have to go on that damn swing? I should have listened to Edward. But, more importantly, where were he… why did not Alice see my life ending? Would these men kill me to rape my dead corpse? That would probably be lest preferable than with a live participant, but what did it matter to these people? They surely did not care for me, or for the horror they were putting me through. Maybe, it is not ending… That could be a tranquilizing. But, would I even prefer to wake up with the men. Wake up to the tortured that would begin. But, I had to wake up. I could not leave him… I would not do that to him. I had to survive.

My questions soon ended as I felt the prick of a needle and the burning the true human venom circulate throughout my body… _I love you, Edward_ was my last thought as I escaped the nightmare.


	3. Chapter 2: Damn Those Virtues

Author's Note:

**Author's Note:**

**The violence, graphic images start a little bit in this chapter. It is rated M for a reason. This is not a terrible chapter in that regard, but it beings the trend that will be continued in the next couple of chapters. It is used for the story, to enhance it. I try to make sure violence, sex, language, etc. are not used just for the sake of using it. They will add something to the story. If they do not, call me out on it. Let me know your feelings. If it is too much, let me know. I will write for the audience. As always, let me know your thoughts, feelings, etc.**

**My personal disclaimer: You might think that I am a horrible person for writing the scenes that follow. However, in truth, I am not. This is completely opposite from my writing, so I am completely ignoring that idea of write what you know. Again, I am not Stephenie Meyer. I did not write Host or anything. If I did, I would let you know the juicy secrets of the next novel or at least give you a tid bit of Breaking Dawn. So to tide us over till August, here is the next installment of My Happy Ending.**

**Quote of the Chapter: "Damaged people are dangerous. They know that they can survive."**

**Song: I am not sure of what song would work best for this chapter. A song that I think reflects some of the feelings is "Broken by Seether." If you youtube it (it is now a verb in my book), you will get a wonderful version. I love that song.**

**The chapter title reflects the chapter quite well in my mind. Let me know if you like the titles of the chapters. Please, review.**

**As always, enjoy.**

**Twirl**

"**Damn Those Virtures"**

_The flowers on the pews glistened in the glimmer of the sun. Each bouquet was perfectly done: Alice did a magnificent job. The aisle was coated in red rose petals, and down the walkway stood my almost husband, the love of my existence. Even though each string of ribbon, even though every hair was in place, none of that mattered. All that mattered was that Edward stood there, and I was going to become Mrs. Edward Cullen._

_I drifted down the aisle looking upon the audience members. There sat my friends and family in the seats. They had smiles upon their teary-eyed faces. I was happy that they came…yet again to me all that mattered was him. He was all the mattered. His perfect face, his smile, him… my Edward._

_My Edward… As I neared the altar, I felt a tugging backwards. I looked around to see who it was, and felt myself falling backwards…backwards into reality…_

To my horror, I realized that it was simply a dream. I awoke from happiness to land myself in a nightmare. As I fully awoke, I realized the impendent of the situation I was faced. The last known memory was being drugged in a moving van. Positive thinking, I told myself. At least I am alive; at least there is another chance. That is something there, right?

I felt myself upon a hard bed. I was still in my clothes from yesterday, or at least I felt I was in them. My eyes were blindfolded with a similar cloth that still restricted my mouth, my only way of calling out for help. I struggled to get my hands to my sides, yet I realized they were also restricted. The cold mental of the handcuffs were present around my wrists. However this time, each wrist was in a separate hand cuff forming a "V." I guessed upon my slim knowledge of kidnappings in movies that they were tied to each bed post. The only thing that was free was my legs. Yet, there was nothing I could do. As I was realizing my current predicament, I heard the mumble of voices in the distance. I did not know what to do, yet maybe…perhaps… just listening, pretending I was still asleep or knocked out would help. At least, it did not fell like they raped me yet, so as long as I was unconscious I would be safe. And maybe, I would find more things about my kidnappers and where I was.

"How much longer should she be asleep?" A voice sounded; it reminded me of the leader.

"Um… I am not sure. She seemed especially feisty, so we gave her more than usual." The burly guy that restricted me earlier called. I came upon a realization that I could move my face slightly and shift the cloth higher up my forehead. As I continued to squint, I was able to see some of my surroundings.

I was tied to an old bed that was in a middle of a small room. It was a full size bed with mental rails at the bottom and the top. It reminded me of old-fashioned beds found in mental hospitals. Surrounding the bed, about five feet back were five chairs. Directly to the left of the bed was a small night table that had an assortment of tools, pill capsules, and other impending items. It dawned on me that I might find what those were for later. On the opposite side of the bed in the right side of the room was a large table that had a variety of items, just like the night table. But, it also had several guns, more handcuffs, a package of condoms (or so it looked liked from the bed), bottles of water, towels, a whip, a long stick, and other diabolical items. It resembled the look of a cross between a sex shop and an army storage shield.

In the right hand corner of the room closest to the bed, there was a door that led into a small bathroom with a shower. There were no windows. And in directly in front of the bed on the other side of the room was a door that led out of the room where the men were standing.

The room itself was small, damp, and dark. There were two overhead lights, one on either side of the bed. The walls were a clay-based. It seemed to be the inside of a cave, if it wasn't a building. The room was incredibly dirty. The walls were coated with a layer of dust and filth, either dirt. And to my horror, on the other side of the wall, there seemed to be blood spurted upon the wall. Blood… human blood upon the wall. As I looked upon the blood, I could feel my stomach beginning to churn as I realized the seriousness of the situation I was in. They were probably going to kill me.

Kill me… that would surely provoke a vision. Just one damn vision would work for me. Alice said she was looking out for me. Being kidnapped, drugged, chained, and held for a considerable amount of time must warrant at least one damn vision. Come on Alice. Just one would let them know what happened to me. Did they even know what was happening? Did they even know where I was?

"Nick, you asshole… how much of the drug did you give her? If we want to have our fun with her at least half awake, you couldn't kill her with it." The leader asked the burly guy, who apparently was named Nick.

"John, just a little more than the recommended dose was given to her. She should be waking up sometime later today. I realized a couple of positives about giving her that much." Nick answered back in a very respectful voice.

"Tell me the damn positives of the bitch being unconscious."

"The drive from Port Angeleas to this little shack took what close to three hours, and we had to drive through Forks. What if she awoke near the end of it, when we were in La Push? There are psycho Indians there that feel like they need to protect everyone. They run around like deranged morons hollering about werewolves. Imagine what they would do if they found her." Nick responded. All of a sudden, the pieces of the puzzle were beginning to line up. The end of the journey was near La Push. Alice could not see visions near werewolves. If this shack, as they called it, was so close to La Push, Alice would not be able to see her. She would not be able to see the pain she was in. And even if she did, they would probably have to go through La Push to get here, which would violate the treaty. Yet, the treaty would go to hell in a hand basket if Edward thought for a second she was in harm. If Alice did not see this, then there was no hope. But, she had to see it. She was in Port Angeleas when she was kidnapped. But, they went through La Push… As though a light bulb went off, the puzzle was finally in place. Edward probably saw her get kidnapped, but they were miles away hunting. The moment Alice saw the vision, she would have called Edward. But, as soon as the van drove through La Push close to the werewolves, Alice would lose the vision, she would lose the only way Bella would ever leave this hell hole. And that would leave one heart-broken, angry Edward and his family that would search for Bella without a clue of where she was. They would follow scents, but with her being in Forks and La Push so recently, they would not think much of it. The possibility of kidnappers returning her to her own home were slim, almost to slim for most people to think about it. Edward and his family were probably trying leads closer to Port Angelas.

"Well, that is good at least." John answered back to Nick.

"Also, when that bitch was trying to escape, she twisted her ankle or so crap like that. With more time, it would heal."

"Why in god's damn earth would I care if she was healing, we are just going to beat her anyway?"

"Oh, I know that. But, it would make her be able to resist longer…have more spunk. They are better when they have more energy. We can go longer."

"That's true. Good thinking. If she is not awake by tomorrow, then we can beat her a couple times to try to wake her up. Or we can drug her with something like caffeine…that would reverse the effects I think."

"Okay, boss. I will let the boys know to be ready for tomorrow. Evening, as usual?"

"Yeah…"

"Are we using condoms or not, John?"

"No. I do not think she will be leaving her alive. And if for some slim chance we allow her to, she will be so well beaten and taken care of, that she will be wished that she died. I would be happy to take care of her wish, if that would be the case. We can also wipe her clean, too."

"Hell yeah!" Nick exclaimed.

"Have the boys meet in her in about ten minutes. We will talk about tomorrow. It will be a fun day, and we do not want to be tied down with procedure to take up the fun." John ordered.

"Right away." I was able to see Nick turn and walk away. As he left, John pivoted and looked at me. At that second, I closed my eyes to protect myself from being discovered. I saw him walk closer and closer to the bed. He bent down and put his mouth close to my ear. He obviously thought I was still asleep, yet that did not stop him from talking to me.

"Tomorrow, you'll be praying that I kill you. Praying…" He whispered into my ear. With those words, my stomach felt as though it dropped out of my body. Everything that I heard was being replayed throughout my mind. _No condoms… so well beaten…praying to be killed_ kept being reheard in my mind as though they were on a loop. They were going to rape me, not only once, but it seems as though multiple times. I was supposed to be with Edward the first time this happened, with my lover in a hotel room or in his house, happy. I was not supposed to be chained to a bed, used as a simple sex slave for their amusement till they killed me. I was not supposed to be crying… I was supposed to be happy, happy with my husband. Everything was crumbing down around me; all of my plans for the future were gone out the window. What happened to my life?

And this was not even about mythical creatures, not about werewolves, or vampires, or James, or Victoria, or anyone. It was not about the supposed monsters that I was supposed to be on the watch from. My killers were probably going to be humans. The ones that Emmett could kill in a second, my killers were supposed to be the innocent ones. I wanted to cry…not only cry but become broken. I lost everything in a course of hours. I lost my life, my husband, my control of my body. It did not matter what I wanted, what I did, or what I said. I was no longer in control. I was bonded to a bed surrounded by at least five men, and I was going to be their next source of amusement. What happened to my life? Where is my happy ever after? Where is Edward?

Edward… Edward needs me. I could not let him live for an eternity without me. Edward would want me to survive. I wanted to survive. But, how do you survive, how can you live through something like this? Wasn't there a proverb about where this is a will, there is a way. You know what, damn those fucking proverbs. They are no use to me. To sheer irony, I started thinking of all the predicaments that no matter what you did, there would be no way out of them. How do those people that came up with that proverb wish for someone to get out of those situations? How would they suggest I get out of this one, because I damn well want to survive? I would want to surivive for the sole reason to kiss Edward one more time, to even go shopping with Alice, get a hug from Esme, reprimanded from Charlie, a bear hug from Emmett, a nasty look from Rosalie, helpful hand from Carlise… everything was worth surviving for. And I would go down swinging.

Edward would want me to try. He would want me to take every last effort to live, and that I would do. Somehow at the moment, a famous passage came to mind…"It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew - _and so do I_, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, _and so did my parents_ - that there was all the difference in the world. **(Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince A/N)**" I would go down fighting. Edward would be proud that I did everything I could do to live, and so would I. I would fight with every ounce of energy, every drop of spirit till I either escaped or died.

It seems during my pondering the men assembled in the entrance way of the room, if one could even call it that. The five of the original men plus two smaller ones stood in the room. The two additional men did not look very pleased to be there compared to the original five that had smug looks upon their face.

"Can we start now?" One of the original guys asked.

"No, we are not starting now Tony." John responded. "Tomorrow, at five, we will begin. I want Tony, Nick, Mike, and Adam to wait in the hallway to meet. We will go in seniority. I want you two," he spoke to the two smaller guys, "Steve and Sam to make sure all the…um… tools are ready by five. Then, I want one of you assembled at each door. Steve stand by this door, and you, Sam, to remain in the entrance way of the bathroom. As long as we agree, you are free to watch of course, and you might be able to touch later. I am sorry, but it is custom to have to go through a certain number of bitches in your position, because you can partake in the festivities." A general hum of agreement was heard through the group.

"Due to the last time and how excited we all are, don't worry about protection. It takes up too much time, and frankly I do not care. There are five of us… she will be praying for death by the end of it. And, we might be generous and just answer her prayers. Last time, we did not wash her in between takes. We can have Steve and Sam wash her in between if we like. It would wash off the blood and semen from the previous taker, if interested. Yes or no…?" John asked the crowd of men.

"Yeah, wash her. It gives them a chance to get their hands on her." One of the guys, who appeared, to be Adam responded.

"Yes, we would like that." Sam answered, and Steve nodded his head.

"Okay, we are in agreement. After each of us, you are to take her into the bathroom. She will already be naked of course. Turn on the water and clean her up. I do not care in the slightest how you do it. Wash the blood that will probably be on her legs, especially after my turn. Also if anyone of us hits her during it, that would cause blood too. Take care to wash our favorite spot. There are appropriate devices on the table, but you are welcome to use fingers and lather her up. Again, don't care how in the hell you do it, make sure the job is down." John commanded the two smaller guys.

"Hey, boss, what are the perimeters on this one?" Mike asked through the crowd. The other guys seemed interested in this question too. I was slightly confused on what perimeters they could possibly be discussing.

"Yeah… well, as long as you make her still conscience have fun. Don't break any bones yet. Bruise the hell out of her… she will deserve everything we give her. She was feisty when we were just restraining her. Teaching her some respect will be in order. Shove all you got, but leave her conscience. Got it?

"Regarding clothes, we can leave her naked after the first go. It will be easier then redressing her every time." I was horror-stroke by the sincerity of his words. He did not seem to realize that he was giving directions to my pain, to how to cause my hell. His only rules were to leave me conscience. Leave me able to feel everything they were doing? How can someone be so cavalry about something so diabolical?

"How many times through, John?" Nick asked. He seemed to be the second in charge of this group of sex-addicted monsters.

"Well, we can go through twice each. I think once tomorrow night. I do not think she could probably stay conscience for two rounds. Then, the next night we could go again. During the day, we could show her how to respect us. If she is enough fun, we could keep her as the general house bitch. It would be tons of fun. Keep her in this room; have sex whenever we want… you know? It would allow us to have fun without having to get a new bitch every night. But, eventually, then we could just kill her. I think that might be the best plan. That would mean though that we couldn't go as hard on her with the beatings, because we want her to survive."

"Good plan, John." Nick sounded.

"Love it." Mike added.

"Hell yeah." Adam shouted.

"If she is here long enough, could we have a go?" Sam asked in a shy voice.

"How about this? You do a good job with cleaning her then yeah…sure have a turn. You two will be in charge of taking care of her, okay? Feed her, bathe her, etc. It should be fun, actually. Bathing will be a treat. Feeding her would be the most work. But, make her work for it. She will understand that she needs the food. I think she really wants to survive. This one won't go quietly."

"Do we know who she is?" Mike asked.

"No, she is not around that town. She might be from Seattle. I doubt she is from Forks or La Push. But, whatever, we are safe in this building. We are near La Push, but we are locked away in the mountains. It would take a miracle for someone to find us." John finished. "Okay, boys, we are done here for tonight. Rest up. It will be some fun times ahead."

I am near La Push, while that is very good in some ways. At least, I am close to home; they will not have to move my body far. I need to quit that thinking; I was going to survive this. But, if I am so nigh, then Alice still would not be able to find me. But, mountains… mountains would be where they might go hunt. I was reminded by Alice once saying that she would hunt in these same mountains whenever she was home from time to time. They would be using tons of restraint and energy. They would need to hunt more while they looked for me. That might be the best chance of living through this. They need to go hunt. Every other time, I always wanted Edward to be with me, and Edward always put off hunting as long as possible. And he would certainly abide now… he wouldn't stop. He would not take care of himself. I always wanted him to be self-ish, to go hunt if he needed, to adhere to his thirsts. The one time that he is trying to be the most selfless to save me might be the one time it causes my death…


	4. Chapter 3: Oh, the Games I have Played

Author's Note:

**Author's Note:**

**I am very sorry, but this is a short chapter. I will be updating tomorrow and over the weekend. I will try to update both this and "Shadow of the Day." **

**I want to thank-you everyone for the number of hits and alerts I have received for this story. They have blown my mind. I would love it, if you would review too. I know that it is a pain. But, I would love just to here any thoughts or feelings whatsoever. Just to let you know, though, that even though I love to write for an audience and hear feedback, I write a lot for my love of literature and just the ability to write stories. So, I will never be the type of person who will not update till they get X number of reviews. No offense if you do that, but that is personally a huge pet peeve of mine. With that said, I would still love all the reviews you are willing to give. Love it, hate it, please let me know. **

**Music: This is a little complicated. I divided the chapter in some regards when I was planning this point of the story. So, the music that is supposed to go with it, doesn't fit. However, when I was writing this story, I listened to a certain song. And, the thoughts do reflect another song. Let me know, if you think they relate.**

**Here are the songs:**

"**Beauty from Pain" by Superchick (Reflects some of the imagines in the chapter)**

"**The Long Day" by Norah Jones (this is the song I listened to when I wrote this)**

Throughout the past two years after I met Edward, I found myself on the edge of death numerous times. From Phoenix to Italy, my life was always being risked. And every time, I felt comfortably at ease about this idea of dying. For in my mind, I was not dying for myself; I was risking death, because without my family, without my friends, with Edward, there would be no point in living. What is life worth without love? Life, without the joy of spending time with Edward, was meaningless. A fire would never be able to survive without a spark; it would surely get suffocated. How is life any different?

Yet, this moment, at this time as I lay chained to the bed, bond, and silenced, everything was different. I would not die trying to protect my family or die in attempt to see Edward one last time. I would probably die due to being the victim of a human's game. When did the supposed monsters, according to Edward, become my saviors and the innocents become the monsters? I gladly offered myself up to die at the expense of a vampire's game before…

As much as I tried to remain calm after I heard John deliver the speech to the men, I could not help but thinking about the odds of the situation. At any point, at any time, I could perish. But, wasn't that the same as everyday life? At any point in a day, something can happen that causes a death. A bus accident, illness, a deadly fall, a vampire attack…

The problem with trying to push out certain thoughts is the necessity of having other thoughts to replace them with. When I tried to push out the thoughts of death and being trapped here, I thought of the best thing in my life…Edward. And as I thought of Edward, the pain collapsed around me. He was the biggest thing I lost by dying. I was losing my wedding, my best friends, my life… And even as I tried to push those thoughts, I found my mind tied to an endless loop that never failed to replay over and over again, crashing my hope to pieces. With every loop, another tide of pain flooded through my empty body. People might ridicule me if they found out my thoughts. "How could you give up hope so quickly," they would probably ask. And, if I was one of those innocent, unharmed bystanders, I would to be dumbstruck by my lack of conviction and strength. But, how much can one person try to assemble? Every person, every single person has a breaking point. Is the prospect of being raped by probably seven men, tortured, and then killed enough?

Every since the men disassembled about two hours ago, the tides of pain and misery continued to collapse upon my lifeless body. I was going to lose everything tomorrow… I was already losing everything. And to my surprise, as the minutes droned on, I realized that the men were beginning to gain something from me that I never thought I would give… my spirit. My faith in Edward and his family finding me was fading. If they were going to find me, then they might have by now. It only took hours for Edward to find me in Phoenix. They were not going to save me this…

Each second caused the pain that first sourced in my stomach to leek throughout my body. It was a numbing, dulling pain that instead of firing my cells was slowly sucking the life from my marrow. Even if Edward found me tomorrow, would he even want me, would he want the lifeless tomb that would be left then? I was not sure if I would be able to be me if they did what they were planning to do.

I would be spoiled in so many ways. Edward and I were planning on sharing this new experience together as lovers, not bound to a bed in pain. He was going to complete me in so many ways. But, what was I even thinking about that? I would die. In one way or another…

The hours passed. They passed too quickly in mind. Yet, isn't that how it always works? As the little boy who squeezes the falling sand in his hand, as I tried to hold upon to my last few hours of peace, I was causing it to spill ever so faster.

There were no clocks on the walls. Yet, after some careful movements I was able to slide the watch that was still on my wrist into my view. It was currently 4:32am. As much as I hated the thought, my eye lids began to droop more and more till finally my mind was at peace when sleep overcame me.

"_Jake, what are you doing here?" I asked Jake as he stood near a tree outside the church where our wedding was being held. The wedding was scheduled to begin in less than an hour. We just finished some last minute pictures, thanks to Alice. I was still prohibited from seeing Edward._

"_Bells, this is your wedding. I am your best friend, right?" Jake questioned me, seeing to be my old Jake. "Edward sent me an invitation." Edward sent him an invitation. When? Why? At least, Jake doesn't seem too angry, and he called him Edward. He called him Edward! That has to be progress._

"_Thank you for coming."_

"_I had to talk to you before the wedding."_

"_Oh." A storm of thoughts erupted in my head. Was he still trying to break up the wedding? Was he going to ruin my special day? How could he do this to me?_

"_Bella, relax." He obviously noticed my previous frozen stance. "I came here to just wish you well. I will always love you, Bella. But, I know that I will imprint one day on a girl, and she will all my wishes come true. You and Edward deserve each other. There is no way I can compete with that love, and I do not want to anymore. You deserve it. You deserve to be able to love peacefully." Jake finished with a small smile on his lips. My eyes began to water with tears. The fighting was over, and I could not be as happy._

"_Oh, thank you Jake. Thank you so much." I whispered as I threw my arms around Jake. _

"_You should not have done that."_

"_Why not?"_

"_You do not want to smell like 'mutt' for your wedding. I do not think that Edward would like that too much. Also, Bells, as much as I hate to think about it. If…um… he changes you, I will understand, and we will not attack you or his family." I was no longer able to keep my tears under control. I hugged him again, not even thinking about the smell. He was giving me everything that I needed for my happy ending to come true… _

That was true, until I woke up.

_A/N: Not my best, but it is an interlude chapter. Some thoughts and feelings were explored. Next chapter will have so much action you might need to look away at times. Please, review. Cheers!_


	5. Chapter 4: Seventy Five Minutes

**_Author's Note!!_**

**Chapter Dedicated to Art Storm. I was about to stop writing for the evening when I received a review from Art Storm. You gave me the needed strength to continue to write this chapter. This is a very hard chapter to write on many levels. In writing, you are taught to write what you know. However, if we all did that, we would not have Twilight. **

**This was a very hard chapter to write. I love Bella, and I hate hurting her. Yet, this is a long, long chapter.**

**Warning: Strong M**

**Music: I wrote this in a combination of silence and random songs.**

"**Fields of Gold" by Eva Cassidy. Why? Because, I needed to listen to sad songs to be able to write this. **

**Love it, hate it… let me know. Thanks for all the reviews already!**

**Yours Truly,**

**Twirl**

**PS. Sorry, my author's notes are quite long. Feel free to skip this part.**

"Seventy-Five Minutes."

"Wakey, wakey time." A falsely sweet voice shouted in my ear. Still have asleep, I was lost in confusion of whether I was still sleeping or not. A smell penetrated into my nostrils as I inhaled a smell coming from the source of the noise. The smell was a disgusting combination of cigarette smoke, alcohol, and burnt plastic. Oh great, this man is not only a monster, but is most likely intoxicated.

"Time to get up." The voice now commanded from the opposite side of the bed. I opened my eyes finally to look around the room. The voices were coming from Steve and Sam, respectively.

"Good, you're up. Saves us the drugs." Sam stated as he let the rest of his sentence drop off. The blindfold was now off my face, and I could look into the room with a clear view. However, my hands were still bound to the bed posts. A black cloth, either black from pigment or from filth, was still around my mouth, silencing my protests.

"Now, slut, let me make a couple things perfectly clear…" Steve began to hiss, yet Sam interrupted him.

"Damn it, Steve! John said not yet."

"Fine, fine. Whatever…" Steve walked around to stand next to Sam. Both of them were looking at me, avoiding my eyes. I am glad that they did. Eyes are legend to be the portals to the soul. These men did not have souls. Behind the men, I saw the table from yesterday. It resembled the same, yet today there was a box of items in the corner. Confusion wreaked my mind, pondering what could be in the box. If they continued their plans from yesterday, then they, all five or even seven of them, were going to rape me. They made that perfectly clear. That really did not require many items. True, that I was not an expert in these matters? But, how much was really necessary. Condoms were thrown out the window, which disgusted me to no end. Not only did they not care about impregnating me, but that would allow their semen to run into my body, fluid that would be infested with probably multiple rapes in the past. Names of endless STDs from health class with Coach Clapp transected through my mind… HIV, herpes, syphilis, Chlamydia.

Forgetting about the box for now, I moved my head to stare at my watch. It was 4:32pm in the afternoon. How long did I sleep for today? At least my last hours were spent in happiness. Twenty-eight minutes till they would assemble. Twenty-eight minutes till hell.

The same imagine of trying to capture sand entered my mind. Sand is so similar to time in many ways. Particles of sand like seconds always find a way to fall from your hands. I tried as hard as I could to cling to those last minutes, yet they fell to my dismay.

The two guys went around the room putting things in different areas. They also grabbed several towels and went to the bathroom. I guess they really were going to give me a shower. After coming out of the bathroom, Steve stood by the door while Sam left to go down the hallway. Steve constantly looked directly at me, as though he had just won the grand prize. His eyes seeped into my mind, as I felt his gaze upon. I turned my head aside to continue to drown in my thoughts. And with each thought, the seconds fell, faster and faster. Till sounds of chattering men could me heard from the hallway.

If Edward had described my heart as a hummingbird before, then I would not be able to find an appropriate metaphor, for they did not compare at all. My heart has never beaten so quickly. Each beat sounded the nearing of the time…

Time, that was my enemy. Time. If I could prolong this, then I might be able to survive. Time was my only enemy truly. Edward would find me that was certain. It only took time. Time for them to gather the scent, to locate me. That was it. Each second, in addition to singling my demise, also signaled Edward getting closer and closer to finding me. He would find me… well he would find me eventually. I needed to prolong this the most I could. If I could give myself two minutes, that would be two extra minutes for Edward to try to find me. Two more minutes might be the difference. It might mean the biggest difference out of everything. I needed to give him the most time I could.

Yet, how was I supposed to prolong the inevitable. Chained and gagged did not leave a lot of options how prolonging the misery. I needed to do something to make it last. Ideas, I needed ideas of how to give him, to give me more time. I always hated the idea of the proverbial light bulb, but now I would surely appreciate if it could go off at any moment. I needed that damn light to go on. Come on, damn it, where is the switch? Any idea would be better than nothing…

I starred down at my watch to see the progress with the countdown. 4:57pm. Shit, what am I supposed to do. I usually did not swear, but desperate situations call for desperate actions. That's it. Desperate actions. Something I would not do otherwise would be needed now. Well, that is pretty obvious. I thought to myself again, leading into a constant battle within my mind. I needed to do something, and each second was being wasted coming up with obvious givens.

I looked outside in the corridor and saw the men beginning to gather. 4:58pm. Two more minutes left. A plan, something…there had to be something that I could do. Something I could do to prolong getting raped. Well, I could not run. I couldn't hide. 4:59pm. One more minute till the ball would drop in time square. Just one idea…

And then the light bulb went off. I could give Edward more time. I could give him at least a couple more minutes if I followed this plan. It might kill me if I did it, but it would give me more time. Minutes…seconds… but at least more time. The men would have to fight me tooth and nail for every article of clothing they removed, for every inch of my body that they saw, and they would almost have to kill me for them to enter my body. I would not go down without a fight, and a hell of a fight I would give them. They called me "feisty" before; I would surely deliver….

My watch chimed 5:00pm. Let the games commence I thought to myself. I saw the group of men standing outside talking in hush whispers. They all saw that I was awake. They knew that I was awaiting their games. I was able to see John pointing the men, which I guessed to be signaling the order they would follow in. He pointed to Steve and Sam to get into positions. John organized this "activity" as carefully as Alice planned my wedding that would never exist. Oh no, why did I have to think of that now. Push it from my mind, I continued to tell myself. I could not think of that now. I needed to be strong.

Steve and Sam walked into the room with smug smiles on their faces. Sam walked over to the bathroom door and stood in front of it. Steve entered the room, yet remained by the door and revolved to look at me straight in the eyes. If there would be a fight, let's begin it now, I thought to myself. I would not allow my eyes to drift away from the portals of evil that shown through his pupils. Starring him down, or as best as I could, I was going to show him that I was prepared to fight in every single way possible. It probably did nothing to him. It probably did not show him my strength. But, it was a testament to me that I was prepared, and I was… I was not going down with fighting.

John nodded to the men, and they dispersed from the corridor. He nodded again to Steve by the door, and he replied with a look of envy plastered against his voice. John did not look upon me, at all. He kept his eyes glued upon the box that was placed upon the table in the room. What was he going to get? Weapons? He would not kill me yet.

The pain, the agony, that was originally in the pit of my stomach, that radiated throughout my body, was gone. It evanesced a while ago, when I decided to be strong and to fight. I had always chosen to fight before, why should this time be any different?

John finally reached the box and picked up a knife from within. I closed my eyes as he walked towards me keeping his eyes on the floor. Why did he have his eyes closed? Was he ashamed possibly of the crime he was about to commit? Did he have a conscience at all? I opened my eyes again as I saw him directly over my body. I was leaning over the bed with the knife above my neck. I could not move from this location and moving would not help. How was I supposed to be strong this situation? What strength would I show? I closed my eyes and let my body go numb, for another time. If he was going to kill me, then I would show him that I was not afraid of death. If I showed him now, then it would make it evident that I would fight. I would fight, because there was nothing to risk for me. I already accepted that pain would come… I already accepted the possibility…the certainty of my death.

I saw through the slits in my eyes the blade sheer inches above my skin. Yet, instead of feeling the blade slide across my throat, I felt his hand upon my neck pushing my body down more and more. This was it… this was the time that I was going to fight. I moved my body as fast as I could to shift my neck around in his hands. Yet, as I continued to move under his grip, he tightened his fist.

"Stop moving… now." He whispered in a voice, so full of anger and lust that I felt as though cold water was thrown upon my body. Yet, no matter the degree, I was not going to stop. He would have to make me.

I continued to shift my weight under his grip again and again till he pushed his entire body weight on the fist that was clamped around my throat, squeezing my neck. And with each second, my ability to breathe was becoming weaker and weaker. How was this man so strong to be able to evict me of my ability to breathe with one hand? How did he have this power? Yet, it was evident that he was no mythical creature… just a human being, the worst kind of monster.

I buckled my hips under my body in an attempt to throw his body upward to alleviate the constant pressure that was upon my throat. Yet it only made him increase the pressure upon my neck. I was beginning to loose my sacred ability to move as the lost oxygen began to affect my actions. The man must realize this, because he let up on his hand, allowing me to breathe again. I starred up at him, to find a look of sheer pleasure.

"See what I can do to you, bitch. Now don't you wish you had listened to me?" I shook my head to signal a _no_. I would never listen to him, ever. I would die first. My head shake must have angered him, because the next thing I felt was the impact of his fist upon my head.

"You will listen to me. You will listen to me, if it is the last god damn thing you do." He was not joking either, because he dropped the knife, and hit me again. Yet, this time I felt it directed in the center of my stomach. The pain thrashed my body. It sucked the wind from my core, and made the lights above my head move. Those two punches were beginning to weaken me already. His strength was unfathomable. No wonder, he as the leader. Any threats of mutiny would result in a physical battle that I hope he would win. If anyone was stronger then he was… Yet, as I continued to reassure myself, I was not going down without a fight. Let him punch me again. Yes, it hurts. But, my ability to battle his power already bought me another two minutes while he tried to show him my power. Two extra minutes for Edward to find me. It was worth it.

John must have thought he showed me his power. He picked up the knife that was dropped on the bed before the second blow. Instead of slicing me, he removed his hand from my throat and moved it down to the top of my shirt. He slide his dirty, calloused hand underneath the fabric and pulled it up allow from my skin. To continue to show me his dominance, he allowed his hand to slide down upon the top of my bra. He slid his point finger down and squeezed my breast. That was it. That was the needed reassurance I needed that I would fight. It reenergized me from the blows. I threw my hips up as hard as I hard into his body that was hovering above mine. My hips made direct contact with his body. Either due to force or surprise, he dropped the knife and slid his hand out of my shirt.

"BITCH!" He yelled in my face, causing spit to spray on my face. As he gave me more energy, I drew up my legs up and kneaded him in his back. I did not fully realize that my legs were free from any bonds till then. I still hand the power of legs. Again, I drew up my knee and forced it to make contact with his body. The contact was so powerful that it caused him to flutter forwards away from my body. More seconds… I just got more seconds. But, what was the cost now? As if in slow motion, he carefully shifted his eyes to look into mine. We was utterly surprised by my resistance, I was sure. I brought new meaning to the world, "feisty," for him. I was not going to be an easy victim.

"Steve, help me out, now." Steve looked from me to John, and then back again. He face was a mixture of arrogance and sheer shock. This must have been the first time John needed help to rape someone. He needed more bonds, he needed someone else…he needed help. This was going to get me more time. Anything, to get more time…

Steve dashed over to the table and pulled out what I gathered were going to bound my feet to the bottom of the bed. It resembled the knot and rope that someone would use to hang a victim. He was hanging my last free limbs. Steve moved over to the bed quickly to attach the ropes. Another chance to stall I thought to myself. As quickly as I could, I slide my feet faster and faster upon the bed. He would have to use up more time to bind my feet.

"Fuck… damn bitch." Steve cursed under his breath. To keep my spirit ups, I thought he must have been trying to win an award for using all expletives or trying to use as many as possible. He probably would have won, too. Joining in on the contest, John muttered a string of curse words that rivaled Steve's. Instead, of helping Steve grab my legs, he looked into my eyes. His eyes were a dark brown that was a shade from being pitch black. His eyes resembled the closest sign of evil I could imagine. Vampires, even the Volturi, had nothing over these people.

John's fist was pulled back, and he swung into my face. The blow was hard, rivaling blows that James must have given me while he attacked. Yet, that was not the only blow… a series of fists bounded upon my body. Again and again, they stormed releasing the anger that John felt at not being able to control me. The spots variegated from my face to my stomach and even to my breasts. Each blow was an attempt to break down my spirit, my drive. And to my horror, I had to force myself to assemble it after each contact. I was not going to allow myself to lose. I tried to block out the pain. Yet, out does one block it out? It was the only thing I could concentrate on. I could not move away from it. It continued upon my body. Edward always talked about the pain of the transformation. Yet, now, at this point, I would gladly have fire racing through my veins. At least, I got something from that…

The blows finally stopped, and I found in the course of the blows, my feet were bound to the bottom of the bed. My legs were spread apart, which just invited, just allowed him to have easier access later.

After I looked down at the V-shape my legs formed, I suddenly realized a smell filling my nostrils. A very familiar smell… the smell of rust and salt… the smell of my blood. The blows did more than just caused me pain, did more than attempt to break my spirit. It caused real damage to my body. Damage that now, after the rush of adrenaline and shock was beginning to fade, I could feel intensively. John, being strong would be an understatement. Next to vampires and werewolves, there was no one stronger that I have had the displeasure of meeting before in my life. Shock was surely able to mask pain, but wasn't shock supposed to last longer? Because, I felt the pain now, felt the pain with no blockers. My stomach screamed in pain. There was no blood, but I knew, there was damage inside my body. There was no away around that. And my head was bleeding profusely due to the number of blows to my head and my face.

And once again I felt his hand crawl underneath my shirt; he grasped the knife with the other hand and brought it to the cloth. He pulled the knife through the clothing, ripping it down the middle. Yet, the knife also dragged through my skin. I screamed in pain, even though it was silenced to the cloth. The knife felt as through it was ripping deep within my flesh, similar to the cut of a surgeon. It was splitting my chest, my stomach in half from my neck down through the valley of my breasts. He then cut slits up my arms. He pulled the sliced shirt from my body, leaving my chest bleeding. The blood was profusely being spilled, soaking my bra in my own blood. The spill continued to reach my nose, and I felt myself beginning to fade in and out due to the scent. John must have realized the chance that I would lose conscience, for he slapped his hand straight across my face, bringing me even more into the pain of my broken body. The sting of his strike rebounded throughout my body again. Yet, my body was now surely broken. Bruised, shattered from the blows and torn from the knife. What left was to come?

He took the knife again and sliced through the center of my bra in addition to snapping the back as he slid his hands under me. My top was soon naked. His eyes greedily starred upon my chest, taking in the sight. I felt my checks burn in embarrassment. Edward had never seen my chest. The love of my life had not seen me yet, however he did.

Thoughts seeped into my mind… what was he going to do next? A grin was now upon his face. He brought his hands down upon my breasts, pounding them and moving them roughly till I felt more tears spilt from my eyes. It was the first time I felt my tears. I must have started crying at the beginning, yet now I had lost all controls over my body. The tears were beginning to invade my line of sight. Time… whether it was seconds or minutes… passed to my horror as he continued to move my body in a horrendous fashion. It seemed as if an entirety had passed till he lifted his hands away from my body. Peace flashed through my mind. A moment of peace…

"Steve… undo her legs." He was allowing me my room. I could allow more time to pass. Steve untied the knots on my ankles. Yet John climbed upon my legs and sat down, not allowing me to move to legs. Damn it!

As soon as Steve had backed away, not till he gazed upon my naked chest for several long moments, he slid his hands to the top of my jeans. Damn it, I continued to think to myself. I could not move. And if I could, the pain was becoming unbearable. How many of these attacks could I possibly survive? With each second, more and more blood was being spilt from my body? Precious blood that I needed…

He undid the buttons and slid the zipper down. "Hold her legs if needed. I need to get these off of her." John told to Steve, who looked thoroughly amused by the command. Steve grasped my ankles in solid, cold hands as John tugged my pants lower and lower down my hips, down my legs till they met Steve's hands. Then, they were off. I lay upon the bed now in only bottom underwear as the smile upon the men's faces grew. One more time, John moved his hands up my body and grasped my clothing. One more time, he slid it down my body till I was completely naked.

"Do you want me to tie her up again?" Steve asked as he looked down at me.

"No… it will be fine." John replied in a proud voice, yet his eyes still showed a high degree of annoyance. Never before, I imagine, did he need help to accomplish this. I was an exception to the norm, and that made me proud.

Steve grabbed my ankles and held them down as John got up from the bed. Thank god, I thought to myself. He was leaving. No, he would not leave. He just got me naked, I reminded myself. There was no point now in thinking of false hopes. False hopes only would be smashed to pieces, and my body was already smashed enough. Instead of leaving, John took off his shirt. He was undressing… He was really going to rape me. Damn it. I need more time. How can I get more time? I need more time. Edward, where are you? Please, Edward, I need you. I need you. John removed his pants, and finally he removed his underwear till he was as naked as I was. I looked away from him. I need not need, nor did I want to look at him. He disgusted me. I hated him more than I have ever hated someone in my entire life.

John walked over the bed and nodded to Steve. Steve returned the nod, as I glanced up at him my chance. I saw him, and then I saw _him_. He was already ready for the next part of the torture. I guess beating helpless girls to a pulp got him aroused, for he surely was now aroused. Not only was this going to hurt like Hell, but he was big enough to make sure this was the center of Hell…making every second diabolical.

Steve removed his hands from my ankles and moved away from me. John then made his way to the bed. He climbed onto the bed. I was not going to allow this to be the easy part for him. He would not get easy access to me. I brought up my leg near my chest, and with every ounce of strength in my body, every ounce of anger I had left I combined it to kick him square in the chest. The kick, to my happiness, was strong enough to force him back. It shoved him away from me, and he landed across the foot of the bed. Steve looked at me in awe. Again, I brought up both of my legs and thrashed them upon John, again and again just like he did with his fists. I knew I would receive a punishment from this. I knew it. But, this allowed me more time… more seconds before he was inside of me. For me, that was defeat.

John moved away from me and stood a few feet from the bed. Instead of anger that I thought would be upon his face, there was a look of glee. Glee, why was there glee? He looked like he thought this was a type of joke… a sick, twisted type of joke. This was no joke. I was fighting for control of my body, of my future life. And I would not lose without a fight.

John walked away from me. Yet, he only ambled over to the table for a second. Looked down upon the "tools" and back upon me, he shook his head as he admitted a chuckle and then walked back with nothing in his hands. A look of determination was upon his face. He was ready to fight too, I imagine.

John jumped onto the bed and sat upon my legs, which prohibited me from moving them. Yet, I was able to shut my legs together. He brought up his fist and smashed it into the center of my legs. My legs unfortunately fluttered and opened for him. He slammed one of his knees into my legs and moved it further apart till he had access.

His hands were all over me, touching me from my breasts till the center of my core. He did not care… this to him was amusement, watching me suffer. And with each touch, he was getting more aroused. My suffering caused him enjoyment. I knew what was coming, so I tried to block it from my mind. I would fight, yet I would try to not feel.

Yet, as much as I tried, I could not block my mind as he pushed himself up into me. My body quivered in pain, in a pain I had never felt before. It caused my eyes to flutter and the lights to flash in front of my face. He continued to push himself deeper and deeper into me, causing the lining of my body to split. I never thought this type of pain was imaginable, especially in that location. John continued to shove himself into my body. I felt a liquid upon my legs and looked down to see a steady stream of blood float down my skin. The combination of being a virgin and his force was going to be deadly. And with each thrust, the pain was growing. If he did not think being in my body was enough, he was started to thrash his fists upon my body, wherever he could reach. They met my face, my chest, even my throat. Each pound brought a new stream of pain and eventually blood to my body. I could see a blow that would go to my head, so I tried to move…to try to shield myself from the pain. Yet, it only caused it to hit my temple directly on.

I lost all control of my body…. and with that lost of control, I too lost my spirit. Not too long ago, I remembered the limit at which a person could be strong. I found my limit. Each additional blow just caused me to lose more and spirit. He was retaliating for my strength at the beginning. He was still instead me when he peaked… I felt the waves shot through my body. But, what did that matted now? Everything was broken…

He pulled himself finally out of me after minutes of pure agony, yet the blood did not stop as it spilled out of my body. This was going to be the end. My body could not last any longer. I starred down at my body. My skin was coated in blood from a combination of the blows and the knife. At least, he was done. One done… four to go.

At least, I thought he was done. He slid his body up mine, taking time to press his entire knee down in the center of my bleeding chest. He shifted his weight so his entire body was being pushed down upon my chest. It felt as though my lungs were being restricted by the weight… I could not breathe, could not think. I could only feel the pain that continued to get stronger and stronger. I could think of nothing else besides the pain. John then shifted backwards to shove his foot at my ribs. A crack sounded again throughout my ears, with a shot of pain in my body. The word pain was becoming useless. I was already in pain, pure agony. And each motion just added to that, like a useless point upon a scoreboard. Fine, he won. He won, and he second he was winning by more. He had succeeded to probably have broken at least one of my ribs.

John hovered above my mouth and proceeded to shove himself in my mouth. I did not have time to slam my mouth shut. He shoved himself down my throat as I gagged and lost my ability to breathe. I hated him with even more passion and tried to bit down on him… trying to cause him a shadow of pain. He reacted of course. He reacted to move his fist and slam my stomach with all of his weight…causing just more pain, more broken ribs, and less time to live. The seconds were being lost…

Finally, John peaked and spilled endlessly in my throat completely blocking my ability to respire. I tried to spit it out, yet John did not move… he was not going to let me. I had to swallow it. And to my horror, I did. John looked down at me in happiness. He won. He broke me in all the ways possible. My body, my heart, my spirit were all shattered in the course of 55 minutes. I felt myself beginning to fade in and out of consciousness due to the state of my body. I had enough sense to know that if it was not for the shock of the past almost hour, I would be in even unbearable pain. Yet, it was hard to think of having more throbbing. Every inch of my body was in absolute agony. My blood continued to seep from my body, from the countless areas of broken skin. Every couple of seconds, my vision would fade out and go completely black. Whatever had happen been causing me to lose control. But, I knew if I lost completely, I would never regain consciousness again. The pain in the combination with the blood loss alerted me to know that I had to go to the hospital right away, if I wanted to live. They were certainly not going to take me… only time till I failed. Only time left till I completely succumbed.

"What the fuck, John?" Mike called as he threw the door open. "You have been in here almost an hour. When are our turns?" Yet, his protest stopped when he saw my body. "What the hell did you do? She is about to die. We wanted a turn."

"Shut the hell up. This was the only way I could even do it. We would pick up another. Have Nick come in…maybe he can get a turn."

"Fine." Mike turned to leave as he cursed under his breath. John looked from me to the door that just slammed shut. I could not do this again…not another time. I could not possible survive. I was surely going to die, and die I would within the next couple minutes. Each second took all my energy to saw awake…to not completely black out forever. Another moment of darkness came…again and again. The door flew upon to reveal Mike and Nick looking at me. Nick walked over to join where John stood as Mike left the room, clearly angry.

"She's all yours. She will probably die before you are done though…" John whispered to Mike. There was the world…die… they knew it, as well as I did, that I was going to die. I had tried as hard as I could, but I was broken. Lost…failed…

"Are we going to clean her up?" Nick asked John, glaring at the two men near the door.

"No, not now." John replied.

"Fine." Nick replied as John put on his clothes and left the room. Nick walked over to the bed and leaned down to my ear.

"Listen up bitch. I do not give a rat's ass whether you live or die after I am done. But, I will take you whether you are dead or not. I need someone to fuck, and you'll do." He whispered into my ear.

He leaned back to begin to take off his clothes. As much as I wanted to survive, I knew that I couldn't, and I did not care anymore. At least after death, there would be no more pain, no more of this. I was too far broken. On the floor, his clothes pilled up till he was too naked. Nike began to slowly walk over to the bed. He slid up and onto the bed till he too hovered over me. I was done trying to fight back. These monsters won. Take me, I thought to myself. Just take me. You can't cause me anymore pain, really. I was going to die soon enough and was already in Hell. What is another couple points? As he was going to enter me, just as Nick did…a loud crash, the sound of boulders slamming together, sounded throughout the entire building. It was the loudest sound I had heard yet today, hurting my ears. It was as if an alarm had gone off. Nick jumped up off of me as he too heard the sound. It brought hope that it surprised Nick, maybe it would be in my favor. He bolted off the bed and threw on his pants. It allowed me a couple more minutes of being alert after the alarm till I knew I was going to collapse again, if not for the final time. It was 6:15. I had survived for 75 minutes. I had lived through 75 long minutes of torture and I could not take anymore. This was going to be it, but then I heard more crashes and then even more collides, sounds of people running, and muffled cries and shouts…something had happened. Yet, what was it?

_A/N: Sorry, cliffhanger. I will update very, very soon. Review!_


	6. Chapter 5: Enemy of My Enemy

**A/N:**

**Sorry, this is a short chapter!!**

**This story, I forgot to mention earlier, is dedicated to one of my best friends. When she was younger, she was brutally raped. She is the strongest person, I know, and she overcame that eventually. And she did receive her happy ending.**

**I will update within the day or by the latest tomorrow morning. I needed to think a little more about how the next part will go, so I could not write it this morning. I know that the last chapter was a cliffhanger, and I am sorry that this chapter will not probably alleviate that.**

**Just to let you know, as long as there is an audience, this will be a rather long story. I hope that you enjoy that. You will understand by next chapter, where this story is going. I am really looking forward to writing the rest of the story. Rape scenes are not the most fun to right, at all. Very depressing. Any predications of where this story will go?? Please let me know.**

**Without further talking… the next chapter.**

"**The Enemy of My Enemy."**

_As he was going to enter me, just as Nick did…a loud crash, the sound of boulders slamming together, sounded throughout the entire building. It was the loudest sound I had heard yet today, hurting my ears. It was as if an alarm had gone off. Nick jumped up off of me as he too heard the sound. It brought hope that it surprised Nick, maybe it would be in my favor. He bolted off the bed and threw on his pants. It allowed me a couple more minutes of being alert after the alarm till I knew I was going to collapse again, if not for the final time. It was 6:15. I had survived for 75 minutes. I had lived through 75 long minutes of torture and I could not take anymore. This was going to be it, but then I heard more crashes and then even more collides, sounds of people running, and muffled cries and shouts…something had happened. Yet, what was it?_

I needed to know what was happening. Maybe, it was Edward…please be Edward. I would be able to see him one last time. Just living to see Edward one last time before death would be worth staying awake through all this pain. It was worth it, and I had paid the prize by winning every second I could. I needed to see him…

I heard footsteps in front of the door. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I needed it to be someone that would help me. Someone, anyone needed to save me. If I saw one bright spot of humanity before I succumbed that I would be better off. The door opened to reveal an angry-looking Mike.

"Mike, what the fuck is going on." Nick screamed at him.

"Nick, we got to go. There are intruders. And they already killed some of us. We need to go now. They are way stronger than even John." Mike shouted back, but trying not to draw anymore attention to the two of them. My spirits raised ten-fold. People were here, and they were attacking these monsters. I did not really care, who they were. They were killing my enemy. They were helping me…The enemy of my enemy is my friend…regardless who it is.

"Nick, we have no fuckin' idea who they are. Give the girl a shot, and let's get the hell out of here." Mike continued to order.

"Shot?" At least, Nick was in my favor and stalling allowing me to know whatever the shot was. Yet, to my slight amusement, he was also confused. What type of shot would they give me? They would not help me; they would not save me. This could not possibly be kind for me.

"Yeah, we do not know who they are, and we do not want them getting information from her."

"Mike, look at her. She's going to die in less than five minutes, probably. She's useless." Nick replied.

"Just give her the damn shot, and let's go. You do it, or I will."

"Fine, just give me a damn second."

"WE DO NOT HAVE TIME. They killed Tony already. Kill the bitch NOW. WE HAVE TO GO!" Mike screamed in reply to Nick. His brows were raised above in an arch. His angry was radiating in waves from him. They all believed they were invincible and completely blocked from saviors. Yet, people clearly intruded. There was always hope, but I would be died by the time they received me.

Mike jogged over to the table, and picked up another needle that was on the table. It was a short needle. However, on the lever of the needle, there was a black ribbon, representing the lethality of the drug.

Mike snapped the cap off the needle. He brought the tip to the bicep of my arm and crammed it within the skin, releasing the liquid. The liquid caused the last pain I would ever feel to seer throughout my cells, collapsing my frail body.

"Sweet dreams…" Nick whispered in my ears as the two men ran from the room. I still heard the loud crashes of men fighting and racing down the corridors. At least, these men could save countless future women from this type of Hell, even though they couldn't save me. I could die knowing that they would not do this again.

The crashes and voices were getting closer and closer to the door. I could hear the twist of the handle at the door. Yet, as the toxin continued throughout my body, my senses were dwindling and becoming obsolete. Only seconds were remaining, and I knew it.

_I will always love you, Edward._ I whispered through the cloth. And with that as the last thought through my mind, after using every ounce of energy and strength during the past, my mind slipped away for the very last time. If I had another second, if I could have lasted one more second, I would have seen the door fling open and the men that stood…


	7. Chapter 6: Heaven vs Hell

**Author's Note:**

**Thank you all for the reviews. I never even thought I would get one review. They make me so happy, really they do. They really do help me continue to write, whenever I feel like stopping. I will try to update as fast as I can. But, these chapters are hard to write, with all the pain and sadness. It zaps the energy from me. I apologize for the evil cliffhangers and leave you all hanging. But, this chapter should be better and answer some of your questions. For future knowledge, I will try to update every day on the weekends and 2-3 days over the week. With tomorrow being Mother's Day, I am not sure whether or not I will be able update, but I will try. I will try to write better and better. This chapter is from Edward's point of view. This is a pretty long chapter... over 5,000 words. I hope this is better than the previous cliffhangers.**

**Warning: Please, excuse any grammar errors. I wrote this and prefered to update it, rather than take more time to edit it again and again. I will edit this within a few days... But, it shouldn't be too bad. :) **

**Quote of the Chapter: "If all else perished and he remained, I should still continue to be: and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: and I should not seem a part of it"-Catherine**

**_Music:_**

**Fallen by Sarah McLaughlin**

**Hysteria from Muse.**

**Remember the Name from Fort Minor.**

**Enjoy,**

**Twirl**

**"Heaven vs. Hell"**

_Note: Edward's POV and two days earlier…_

As I left Bella's room for the hunting trip before the wedding, the pit of my empty stomach was slightly nauseous in fright of leaving her. She was my entire world, and I hated leaving her just for a couple of minutes, let alone three entire days. Yet, I did know that I needed to hunt. Our wedding was in a couple of days, and I needed to be as strong as possible if I wanted to be with Bella. I wanted nothing more than to please her in everyway possible, and without hunting, I surely would not be able to do not on our wedding night. As much as I would have rather wanted till after she was changed, I would do anything and everything to make her happy. And I of course wanted to share that experience with Bella too, as man and wife.

Due to the hour, the Volvo was still at my house. I dropped from the window ledge and started off running throughout the forest to get back home. We were all leaving except for Alice and Esme. Alice and Esme went hunting the previous night, which was a sacrifice for Alice due to the closeness of the wedding. She tried to remind me of everything that had yet to get done. She was overwhelmed. She could not waste time hunting now. It took a lot of pleading and begging, especially from Jasper, to make her go. So now, Alice and Esme were finishing wedding plans and also keeping an eye out for Bella to make sure she was alright. Even though at times Alice was slightly insane, especially with the wedding plans, she was making our wedding perfect. How can you fault someone for making you insanely happy?

I arrived to the house and walked up the steps into the living room to see everyone ready to go, awaiting my arrival. Due the reclining bear population in the nearby woods, Emmett was eager to travel to a forest several hundred miles east of Forks. The rest of the family supported his decision. There was an overpopulation of not only bear, but mountain lion and deer. As much as I hated the idea of going farther away from Bella, I did owe Emmett and the rest of the family for everything they had down in the past couple of years. I know they did not do it to receive something; they did it because they love Bella, but still cooperating and agreeing to a distant hunting trip would be a nice gesture.

"Are you ready to go, man? Did you and Bella say a _nice_ goodbye?" Emmett cooed, yet the rest of his thoughts were on different _less nice_ ways that a couple good say goodbye… ways that Emmett and Rosalie did often. I growled in reply to his comment. The entire family knew of our plans to wait till after the wedding, and every moment Emmett had, he would constantly remind me that I was about to become a man.

"Emmett…" I warned looking at him.

"Just watching out for my little brother." Emmett responded. Emmett had done a lot of watching out in the past week, especially. Jasper and he decided that it was their responsibility as my _older_ brothers to prepare me to how to please a woman. The worst part of the entire conversation was that fact that Emmett and Jasper constantly thought of how _they_ pleased their wives… my sisters. Those were memories I wish I could forget… no one wants to see their sisters in those ways.

"Are you ready to go, Edward?" Carlisle asked. _She will be fine_, he thought to reassure me. At least, he understands the anxiety I had about leaving Bella. _I did not see anything, Edward. She will go to Port Angeles tomorrow. She goes into a bookstore and then drives to get dinner. Bella will be home by nine o'clock. _Alice reassured me. I just hope that she would be right.

"Yes, I am." I replied to the anxious audience. We would not arrive there till late tomorrow afternoon, almost evening due to the distance. Everyone grabbed their respective bag. We were taking a change of clothes (two in Rosalie's case), some personal items, and tents. I glanced at my phone as I placed it deep within my pocket. I would be calling both Alice and Bella frequently over the next couple of days to make sure the love of my life was safe. Also, Alice would need to call me the second, if something should happen. Why we needed tents when we didn't sleep was never obvious to me? Jasper and Carlisle kissed their wives goodbye in a sweet embrace as we walked out the door.

The feeling of the wind pushing against my face was calming to my anxious nerves, similar to the release of endorphins to humans. Each step was another movement, another motion that calmed me down. Bella would be safe; Alice was almost always correct. Just try to have fun, and relax, I continued to tell myself. The terrain was rather smooth during the first leg of the run. As much as I hated the idea of taking Bella's life away, the idea that she would be with me during the next hunt brought a new level of happiness, causing me to push my speed faster and faster.

We continued to run throughout the entire night. We took a moment to stop whenever the sun broke the horizon, causing the first rays to break our marble skin. The sky was the classic, picturesque sight. And as soon as we stopped, we continued again. The landscape began to incline as we reached an offspring of the Rocky Mountains. Yet, this did not inhibit our speed. As we broke across the land, I would witness from time to time a random animal grazing upon the land. I was filled with annoyance of the difference everyone seemed to acknowledge between feeding here and feeing several hours from now. But, ignoring my thoughts, I continued with my family, Bella's family as we tore across the forest.

The hours continued to past as we made our way to our destination. The thirst in my throat was burning as we finally arrived in the center of the forest. As I took a breath of the new area, I inhaled the scents of dozens upon dozens of animals. The forest was littered with a diverse, over-population buffet. I was not the only one ready to hunt, so we broke up and went our separate ways.

I slowed down for another moment to inhale the new scent of the land, to pick up the trail of a mountain lion. The perfume soon reached my nostrils, and I took off in that direction. The lion was crouching down a short cliff on a rock that jetted out, hovering above a small pond. Before the lion could realize my position, I launched myself down the cliff directly behind my prey. Within another second, I pounced on the lion, snapping the neck with my arms. My teeth broke the surface of the skin surrounding the next. The warm liquid slid within my mouth, coating the fire with a bucket of water. It spread down my throat, causing endless relief. I continued to drain the entire animal, and then proceed to bury it under the overhang. It was the perfect spot, and it required no digging.

I wonder where the rest of my family was at the moment, so I returned to the spot to see the rest of my family assemble from their respective hunt. We were not finished, by any means, but we always met back, talked, hunted a little bit together, etc. Emmett was about to open his mouth to say something when my phone vibrated deep within my pocket. The only two people who would call me were either Alice or Bella. Both were incredibly important. I grabbed the phone and flipped it open.

"Hello." I questioned by the lack of voice.

"EDWARD, you need to get home NOW."

"Alice, what is it?"

"I am so sorry Edward; I did not see it. Bella is missing." If I could have cried, my eyes would have been pouring with tears. What happened to Bella? Where was she? I could never allow something to happen to her.

"I will be home as soon as possible. Bye, Alice." I called back trying to get off the phone as soon as possible. The slammed the phone with a click as I turned to face my family. I did not have time for explanations. One reason for all, I did not even know what was happening.

_Edward, what is wrong? _Carlisle thought.

_Is Bella alright? The emotions pouring off of you are only that intense with Bella_. Jasper thought again.

"Bella is missing. Alice cannot see her. I have to get home now." I replied, hoping to just be able to leave.

"We will all go." Carlisle replied with the rest of the family, even Rosalie, nodding in agreement.

"We need to go now. We need to leave now. Alice…" I trailed off. I did not want to think of the reasons why Bella was not able to be seen. The last moment she was at Port Angeles, nowhere near those mutts. Something…something human could have happened. But, why couldn't Alice see her?

The entire group grabbed the bags in a split second, and we took off running at a new level of speed. I needed to get home. It did not matter what happened to me. Bella was my entire life. I needed to save her.

I wish that I did not listen to them. If I did not listen to my family members, if we did not go several hundred miles away from Forks, then we would be able to get home in minutes not several hours. Yet, this time, we would almost cut our time in half. We all pushed our speeds to the maximum. I glanced back to see the gap between me and the rest of the family. I was running as fast as I could, which was faster than any of my family. I did not care. It did not matter; I had to get home. What if something happened to her? I could not let my mind think along those lines, because I could not lose faith… she had to be alright. She had to be safe. She had to be alive, for if she died, I would surely die too.

With each second that passed, new thoughts of the possible dangers and pains that Bella was experiencing fell through my mind as I got closer and closer to Forks. I needed to get there soon. Time was my enemy. Each second was another second that Bella was in trouble, another possible second of her pain…another second closer to her possible death. It was impossible at this time to think of anything besides the worth possible situations. My love, the reason for my existence, was in pain. She had to be alive… she had to be alive. Please, god let her be alive. Very few times during my life have I thought of praying… I never once prayed till I met Bella. Because till I met Bella, my life never had the same meaning. Even though I had my family, I never had a reason to pray with my entire being. And as I tore through the countryside, I felt myself praying to God, to whatever being, if there was even a being above, that she would be alive, that she would be safe.

The entirety passed in my mind before I reached the house. I did not stop running till I burst through the house. I dashed into the living room.

"ALICE, ESME?" I shouted throughout the house, hoping that Alice would be here in a few minutes to alleviate my worries.

"Edward, I am right here." Alice replied running down the steps.

"Alice, where is she? What happened?" If Alice was human, her face would be covered with tears. She was dry sobbing as she tore down the steps. The pain in her eyes was obvious since I knew she felt the guilt of losing Bella. I would tell her later that it was not her fault, but not now. We had more important things to do.

"Edward, I watched her the entire day. She was supposed to go to the bookstore and then go eat. Then, however, things changed. They changed rapidly. The next thing I noticed she changed the roads that she was walking down. She came to a park and went to the swings. Before I knew it…" Her body started to tremble with pain. "I am so sorry Edward."

"Alice, what happened?"

"Edward, a group of men kidnapped her. They drugged her and shoved her into a van." That was it. These men were touching my Bella. They were hurting her. Rage was never as strong as the moment now. My entire body was sizzling in anger. I turned around and slammed my fist into the wall. I did not care. These men had her. What were they doing to her?

"Edward, as soon as I saw, I called you and tried to see where she was. I drove down to Port Angeles, but her scent was masked by that of the men. I tried to see where they were going, but everything was blocked. I returned here to try to see something. I cannot see anything. I am so sorry Edward. I am so so sorry." Alice continued to tremble. The anger in my mind was equal to her pain in her eyes. Confusion fused throughout my mind. What was I to do? My mind was dashing between ideas as the house opened again to reveal the entire family. It was obvious that they had heard the shouts as they ran up, for their faces were distraught in pain.

Emmett was searing in rage. _We will get her back, Edward. And we will make the men pay, pay in everyway possible. _Jasper looked with a face clean of all emotions. He could not let the emotions overcome him.

_Edward?_ Carlisle thought. _We need to take a moment to think of a plan. _I began to tremble in more anger as Carlisle brought the notion of taking more time. We had no time. We already wasted almost two days having to run back. Bella was in torture, every second we wasted planning. _Edward, please. We cannot go running off. Unfortunately, the only thing we can do is stop and plan. Alice can't see her._

"I KNOW. WE ALL KNOW WE CANNOT SEE HER." I screamed at Carlisle. He looked down in a second of remorse, but he seemed determined in the idea.

"Edward, first of all remember two things. We have no idea where she is. Alice already attempted to find her."

"I'm NOT Alice. I can find her." I replied. I saw another glance of regret pass over Alice's face at my notion of her being unable to find her.

"Edward, second… none of all really hunt. We all ran back. If we need to work hard enough, we will need to hunt again."

"WE DO NOT HAVE TIME TO HUNT. WE HAVE NO TIME. NO DAMN TIME TO WASTE. DO YOU ALL UNDERSTAND? BELLA IS IN PAIN, RIGHT NOW. WE NEED TO FIND HER…NOW!" I screamed at the entire family. They did not understand the situation. We could not hunt, we count not plan, and we needed to find Bella, my Bella.

"Edward, take less than an hour to hunt. We all will. It will make us stronger. We need to be as strong as possible." Emmett responded. His thoughts were fierce with ideas of revenging the kidnapping and torture of Bella. I knew the thirst I had, but I knew that I could continue despite it. Bella was more important.

"Edward, less than hour… You need it." Carlisle responded. _Edward, if I did not think it was absolutely necessary, I would not recommend it. Please?_ Carlisle continued to think. I knew that he would not suggest it otherwise.

"Fine. We can go to the mountains near La Push, and then we can go through the forest towards Port Angeles. Maybe, there is a trail." I ordered. Without another pause, the entire family including Esme, who returned from upstairs. _I am so sorry Edward_, Esme continued. I knew to her it felt as though she was missing a daughter. Her daughter was missing and in pain. The mother in her reared even more when she knew one of her children was in danger.

We took a path around the area of La Push. We hardly ever went into the mountains surrounding La Push. It was too close to La Push. Her visions would always leave whenever we came in these mountains. We were too close to the werewolves. She, more than anyone, was uncomfortable being this nigh to the mutts. We were so close that every so often a gust of wind would bring the scents of the wolves. The group ripped through the forests and continued up the side of the mountain. We were getting further and further away from the reservation and from civilization as another scent brushed across me, causing me to halt in my steps. It was the faintest scent of Bella.

I whipped around to see the rest of the group stop in their tracks as they too smelled Bella. She was somewhere close to here. She was here. Of all the places she could be, she was here. Suddenly, a mixture of happiness and fright exploded within my chest. Out of all the places we could hunt, she was here. However, in what state, was she in? I pushed my body towards the scent and took off running, with the rest of my family on my heels. I needed her… and I needed her now.

The scent grew stronger as we came to a building that was built within the side of the mountain. There was a strong gate that blocked our paths. Yet, it turned into popsicles sticks as I slammed my fist through the wood. I ripped the remaining shards of the door into pieces as I threw myself into the corridor. There was no one here directly in front of us. Yet, I could here the mumbled of voices coming up the nearby steps to see who was here. We were here.

Emmett came up to join me in the front as we ran towards to voices. They had my Bella, and they were surely going to pay. Pay with the dearest things they had…

A group of three men came up the steps and stopped dead in their tracks as they saw the group of us. Yet, they soon regained their composure as they pulled out guns.

"You need to get the Hell out of here." A man shouted at us, pointing the gun at us.

"Where is she?" I shouted moving towards the man with the gun.

"Step back, or you will die."

"Too bad," Emmett replied with a small sense of amusement in my voice. The gun went off, and the bullet bounced off Emmett. I grabbed the man around the throat, throwing him up against the wall.

"WHERE IS SHE?" I spoke, putting an evident pause within each word.

"I do not know who you are talking about." The man quivered. I tried to look into his thoughts, yet as soon as I did, I saw a picture that would forever pollute my mind. As soon as I saw it, I dropped the man on the ground. The picture was the worst in my mind, and caused the monster in my body to cry out in pain. They had her, and in the gravest way possible. The picture was of my precious Bella, my sweet, innocent Bella bound to a bed, naked. I had never seen her in this way before, and I felt the need to shudder at the lack of respect. They took her control from her. And, then the thought got even worse, as I saw every hit, every blow that man gave her. After each blow, I saw her body quiver in pain, and the blood begin to leak from her helpless body. My mind raced through his thoughts of when he shoved himself in her again and again, making her cry out in pain. And my mind almost shut when I saw the order he gave a man, called Mike. The order to kill her…

That was it. I slammed my fist through the center of his chest. I could feel my fist cover in his blood. My fist went straight through the body making him scream in pain. He collapsed on the ground, already dead. It was better than he deserved. This John character deserved the worst possible death, and I just made it quick for him. Yet, he would have to spend an entirety in Hell.

"Edward?" Emmett questioned. They did not know the images, the pain I saw and questioned the actions that I had taken against the man.

"They…they…raped her." My voice was a pure hiss, as I spoke the last part of the sentence. I saw Rosalie shudder and then grow in outrage.

"He ordered her death. We need to get her NOW." I turned to face the other two men. "WHERE IS SHE?" I questioned again, not caring whether or not if they answered. They would die regardless.

"Do you mean the useless slut? Pretty sure she is already died… pity. We did not even have a turn." This time, it was not my outrage that ended his life. Rosalie dashed over to him and grabbed his throat. She shoved his entire body against the body.

"Where is she?" Rosalie called.

"Down the stairs to the left." He replied. I knew the rest of my family could take care of these people. Rosalie would have the most fun. Rosalie nodded, alerting me that she would take fun in ending those two men's lives. Emmett, Carlisle, Alice, and I pivoted and ran at top speeds down the steps. I heard the last two cries of the remaining men's deaths, as Rosalie, Jasper, and Esme joined us downstairs. There were four men running away from us, as they heard the screams above and saw us. Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett continued after the men. Emmett would give his wish… lives to end. A part of me wished that I could make these men pay for every scratch they put on Bella, every tear they caused. But, I needed to see Bella. Seeing, being with Bella was more important than hurting those demons. Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett would make them pay, especially Rosalie. She knew the pain that Bella went through. Rosalie would put those men through that pain. I had faith in my slightly deranged, loved sister…

I saw the door, the absolute last door that stood between me and my life. I opened the door, and the image that I saw brought me to my knees. The image blocked out the thoughts I was hearing from my family, blocked out the screams I heard from the men dying at the hands of my family. How could you see her like that? How can someone do that to another person? How could you live with yourself after you did THAT? How can a person cause that much pain to another human being?

I heard her heartbeat, which brought a wave of happiness. Yet, it was the weakest I had ever heard of a living human. She was going to die, and probably within minutes. I did not want to look at her. She was broken in so many ways, and it was all my fault. I should have protected her more. It was my fault that she had to live through that. All my fault. She must have hated me during the past hours. If I did not leave to go hunting, I would have been there. I would have protected her… My body continued to dry heave as my eyes glanced over her body.

Now, she lay dying upon the table. Her body was coated in blood. I turned to look at my family members to see if they could handle the blood. Yet, at this time, handling the blood was easy compared to trying to comprehend the pain that these men caused. What happened to this world? What happened to humanity? How could a world, how could people be so diabolical to cause this pain to another human being? Her skull was sliced in numerous areas. Those sons of bitches beat her. They beat her entire body. I saw the damage already. Then, my eyes tuned in on the cut down her perfect chest, ripping it apart. I could not handle it anymore. A scream tore throughout my throat. I could not look at my family members… I had to do something. I had to help her.

"Carlisle, DO SOMETHING." I ordered at my adoptive father. Overcome with the pain of seeing Bella like that, I whispered, "Please, please do something." Dry sobs did not stop to fill my body. Before I even uttered the words, Carlisle was already hovering over her bruised body.

_Edward, she only has sheer seconds till she dies. She was incredibly strong. Tthe physical torture they put her through was… I can also smell the poison they injected her with. We are actually lucky she is still even alive…_ Carlisle trailed off. We were not lucky… she was almost died. And I caused that by my lack of protection.

_Edward, she is going to die. You need to bite her, and you need to bite her NOW._ Carlisle ordered. Confusion shattered my mind. How could I bite her in this position? I always told her that I would never bit her due to her being in danger. And at this moment, she was in the gravest of dangers. She would die otherwise. Would she be angry at me for changing her? Would she rather have Heaven after living through this Hell? Would I be enough, would not ever having Heaven be enough after she was in Hell? An angel deserves Heaven, not Hell. And I would only assure her Hell. Yet, I could not live without her. I love her with every ounce of my heart, body, and soul, a soul that she convinced me I had. I wanted her. But, would she love me after this was over? And she wanted me, she wanted this life. I told her that I would change her. However, that would be after hours of hunting and preparing. I had not hunted enough. I could kill her even more easily now. Did I have the strength to do this to her? She was almost drained of all blood already.

_Edward, you need to do it now, or she will die. She wanted this; she wanted you. _Carlisle thought.

"EDWARD, if you do not do this, I will personally bit her and then kill you." Alice ordered toward me. _Please, do this for Bella_, Alice thought calmer. The pain in her voice was clearly evident. I nodded my head in agreement.

_Edward, she will always love you. She wants you; she wants this. She will love you forever, even after this._ Esme thought. She always knew what to say to reassure me. I crawled up alongside her, avoiding staring at her naked body. I reached her neck.

"I love you Bella. Please, forgive me," I whispered as I bite the crease of her neck, allowing my venom to pour into her body.

_You need to do it again, Edward_, Carlisle thought in his mind. I went down to her wrists and sunk my teeth within her skin twice more. And then twice more in the inside of her ankles, I bite, completely inhibiting her chance at Heaven. _We need to get her back to the house, and see her condition. She had very little blood left…_ Carlisle trailed off. I knew what he meant. Were we too late to even change her? I reached down and picked into my arms. Carlisle shrugged his coat off and draped it over her naked body. I turned to leave as I glanced down at her closed eyes. I could not help but thinking whether or not this was it. Would she still love me? Would she still care for me after I did that to her? Would she hate me for changing her, if she survived, into a monster?

Didn't I just sentence an angel from Heaven back to Hell…

A/N: Review… Love it, hate it. Please, let me know!


	8. Chapter 7: 9 Crimes

**Author's Note:**

**Hope everyone had a pleasant Mother's Day. Thank you for the reviews. **

**I.Michela brought up the following point, "****But Edward didn't have to change her to save her. He could have just sucked the poison from her body, like he did the James venom in Twilight," and I wanted to address it. This is my fault, because I did not explain it well enough in the chapter. Bella was going to die regardless of whether or not the men injected the poison. She was too badly beaten and broken from the attack. She lost tremendous amounts of blood. The men only gave her the poison because they wanted to make sure she did not live another minute or so to tell the "invaders" what they did to her. The men wanted to not have to wait till she died. Even if the men did not inject the poison, Edward would still have to have changed her. She would have died before they even had reached the Cullen's house for treatment. Her injuries were too far beyond repair.**

**Music: 9 Crimes by Damien Rice. One of the saddest songs I have ever heard.**

**Enjoy, and please review.**

**Twirl**

"**9 Crimes"**

The past two days, except for the men that tortured my love, time was my sole enemy. I was fighting time, just like Bella had within that room. And time I was fighting as I carried Bella out of that hellion prison. I turned around and headed towards the door, not glancing back again at the bed that held her captive, not back at the men, who broke her, and not back at the place, which caused her death. I would never look back. This was our time now… the past was over.

People when they feel completely overwhelmed with emotions, when feelings get too big for just one individual to handle want to simply collapse under the weight. Sometimes humanity is a weight too heavy for one person to carry. And throughout my entire life, I had never felt the amount of pain that I was feeling now. But, this was not physical pain. And I wish it was. I was that it was damn physical pain. I wish it was physical pain that hurt me, so much compared to this… At least with physical pain, you narrow it down on a region of your body. With this, this type of pain has no central location. It just is. And as much as I wished to collapse from the weight of humanity upon my shoulders at this moment, I have to be even stronger for Bella…

I cradled her in my chest as I raced home. I slowed down as I reached the door as I did just a while ago. I continued to glare down at Bella in confusion. Currently, one should be withering in pain. Yet, she lied there, almost dead in my arms. Maybe, it really was too late. Once again, time…only time would tell.

_Edward, I think she needs help._ I turned towards my adoptive father and raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Of course, she needed help. What type of help?

"Edward, I think it would be best to clean up Bella now. It will make her more comfortable, especially if-when she wakes up," Carlisle corrected himself.

_Edward, I will do it, if you would rather not. We would all understand_. Alice reassured me. I understand what she was thinking. Would Bella be angry with me that I saw her in this position? But, I wanted to help, to care for her, now more than ever. She was suffering due to my error. I caused this pain.

"If you think it is best Carlisle?" I questioned Carlisle.

"Yes, it will be." _I am not sure the state in which she will wake up in. There are no usual reactions to this. I do not her how she will take it, either_. He continued. How could there be normal reactions to this? Was it normal to be raped and tortured? Was it a normal pastime? The anger had never left my body, yet new waves of guilt and sadness continued to overshadow the pure hate. Every glance upon her skin caused those waves to recover every other emotion. I nodded towards Carlisle, letting him know.

"Afterwards, take her to your room. Let me know, and I will be up." He reported. _Edward, it will be alright. _

_Edward, I see her._ Alice began. Pure delight filled my being. She would wake up. She will be alive again… _She will wake up in about a day and a half. I cannot see her reactions, but she will wake up_. Her words continued to cause my broken spirits to soar.

As I walked up the steps in the house holding Bella, I could not help but feeling as though I was breaking boundaries. I felt as though I was letting Bella down. I had never seen her body before, and I was now going to help wash her body. Even now, even after all the horrendous actions, she still was the most beautiful woman in the world. She was and will always be absolutely perfect. My perfect angel banished to Hell.

I walked into the bathroom near my room and supported her as I turned the water on in the tub. This was going to be challenging then I believed. Perhaps, the shower would be better. Turning off the water, I walked into the shower while supporting her weight. I grabbed a soft washcloth, body soap, and other showering necessities in addition to removing the coat that was shielding her body. When the coat was removed, I could not help but gasp. The damage they did to her body was astounding. Her blood was more pronounce as I witnessed that her body was coated in dried blood. I did not have hold my breath, as I had to earlier. For no ounce of my body loathed her blood, a combination of her current state and my venom racing through her veins. Yet, regardless of the damage to her body, it was still beautiful. She was still absolutely beautiful…perfect.

I carefully turned on the water to luke-warm and helped to wash the blood off her body. I made careful smooth motions against her skin, to not hurt her anymore. The blood eventually relented till all the blood was gone from her body. Underneath the blood, huge bruises and evidence of the attack remained. A new wave of pain and guilt ripped through my body. I could not help by blame myself for every second, for every ounce of pain I caused her. I directed the water to her hair and washed her lovely, brown hair using her favorite strawberry shampoo. My clothes, by this point, were completely soaked from the shower.

I was sure to avoid looking at her except for her eyes. Careful and soft I washed her body till all remained of her attack were the physical scars… I wrapped a towel around her body, and picked her back up in my arms. On the counter of the bathroom was a set of new clothes, pajamas, for Bella to wear, thanks for Alice obviously. I would need to thank her at a later date.

After I helped her into the pajamas and carried her onto the bed, I whispered for Carlisle. I lay upon the bed next to Bella, cradling her in my arms. I would not leave her side till she woke, and even then I never wanted to leave her side again for the rest of eternity, if she would have me. As Carlisle walked into the room, he nodded at me in both a sign of admiration and acknowledging my location for the next two days.

Carlisle walked up along side her frail body and moved up to check on her current condition.

"Edward, Alice said she will wake up, which is the best news we could have hoped to happen." Carlisle whispered as he continued his examination.

"Why isn't she awake then?" I questioned. Even though it was unusual for transformations to be done well the human was completely unconscious, it would make her not feel the pain, not wither in the agony.

"I think it was to her current position. Even if they did not inject the poison into her body, she was still seconds away from death. Her body was too badly injured during the attack. Even without the poison…" he trailed off taking a long glance upon her face, covered with scars.

"The transformation actually has already helped heal some of her wounds. Her body lost tremendous amounts of blood, which should make her transformation faster. Also, her first year as a newborn should be shorter and easier, hopefully." Carlisle finished. Hopefully, it would be easier…anything easier for her.

--

The next two days passed slowly as though every second was being carefully examined before the next could come. Every second was another moment for my body to be racked with guilt and sorrow. I knew in my mind I did the correct thing. Everyone reassured me of that. But, how can one not be filled with guilt? Bella experienced the absolute worst of the earth. She experienced the worst of human kind. She was destined to go to Heaven, away from these people, away from those sins. Would she still want to be on this planet after seeing the worst in man kind?

Throughout the two days, my family members came and sat with me and Bella for period of times. Rosalie always made her opinion on Bella's turning obvious. She found Bella's choice to be changed almost unfathomable. However, whenever, she came up during the morning of the second day, her opinion was vastly different. After one glance from Bella's body to my face, she nodded and her thoughts, I noticed for the first time changed. She too believed in the choice that I made. Bella and I were made for each other. And we could not be apart. Bella was going to be changed anyway in a few weeks. Bella wanted this. All of my family members had reassured me within the past hours of my choice. Yet, it was at this moment, when the only other family member besides me who thought Bella should remain human changed her opinion, that I felt assurance in mine. Rosalie in that moment gave me the biggest gift she could… her acceptance.

On the afternoon of the second day, I heard a new type of silence. I was unable to hear her heartbeat at all, but Carlisle believed that either it was too weak for us to hear it (which I did not believe) or she was already changed. Yet, this silence was ear-splitting. Bella's body was different…healed. My eyes were always concentrated on her face, on her beautiful closed eyes that I did not notice the slow changes in her appearance. All the scars of her attack faded away during the past two days. Her silenced skin was repaired, and her face, her magnificent face, was free of all the appalling wounds the men had afflicted. Along with the healing, her skin was a new shade of pale, if that was possible… the shade of mine and mine family.

_Edward, she will be waking up in ten minutes_. Alice thought. Ten more minutes… For someone that lives forever, time was awfully critical to my survival. Finally, in ten minutes, I would be done raging this battle against time. I could see Bella again, and be with her…

Too often throughout the past five days have my thoughts trailed to the possibilities of losing her, of her imminent death from Alice's first phone call to even after I bit her. Now, finally, she would be awake. Now, finally, in ten minutes, she would be mine for eternity, and I loved her more than anything in the universe. My life was meaningless without her.

As the last few minutes before she woke up, my mind fluttered to all the possibilities of things I would do to make up for her lost. I would make up for the protection I failed to give her. I would do everything in my power to trust me again, and I would do everything in my power to make her happy… make her happy for eternity.

And finally, after the countless hours of guilt and sorrow, after the countless of minutes debating her reactions, and after the countless seconds of feeling I lost her for ever, she woke up.

_A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger. I will update very, very soon. Expect by Wednesday a very long chapter. I tend to go between short and long chapters to allow for some updates between the days I have more time. After this week, I will have a lot more time… thus better updates. _

_Next chapter: What happens after Bella wakes up? What memories does she have from her previous "life?" What will her reaction be? _


	9. Author's Note

Hello All,

Hello All,

I am tremendously sorry, but this is an author's note. Just to let you know that while I was in the shower, inspiration hit, and I got an idea for this story. I need to rewrite the next chapter. So, it might be out a little later. I hope that it pays off, but I am quite excited about this plot line that will continue, etc. But, we will see. I promise I will update soon… by Wednesday. Tons of thanks for the reviews.

Thanks all, enjoy, and review.

Twirl


	10. Chapter 8: There is No Place Like Home

**Author's Note:**

**Thank you for all the reviews. They make me incredibly happy. I will try to reply to them soon. But, I have been incredibly sick, unfortunately or I would have written this while back. I hate to make false promises about when I update, so I will try to not break any more promises. Please, try to excuse errors. I have been ill, and I have not had enough sufficient time. I will update an edited copy later.**

**I hope that you like this chapter. This is a very difficult chapter to write. Hardest without a doubt. I feel very nervous about writing it, because I do not want to let anyone down with the next leg of the story. Somehow, as crazy as it sounds, writing the first part of it was easier. **_**This chapter is from Bella's point of view.**_

**Music: Damien Rice- "I will remember." Coldplay- "Viva la vida**

**I hope that you enjoy, and please REVIEW.**

**Twirl**

"There's No Place Like Home"

_I will always love you, Edward. I whispered through the cloth. And with that as the last thought through my mind, after using every ounce of energy and strength during the past, my mind slipped away for the very last time. If I had another second, if I could have lasted one more second, I would have seen the door fling open and the men that stood…_

--

As soon as the tidal wave collapsed over me that rendered me unconsciousness, my mind subconsciously blocked my thoughts, my memories, any pains of what I was leaving behind. Yet, as I felt my mind leaving my body, I did not know what was happening. Was this death? Was this one of those supernatural outer body experiences? For after all I have experience within the last two years, I would certainly believe it. But, what if this was the end? Whatever wanted on the other side of life… whatever death entailed…Edward would not be with me. As much as every moment of forever, my entire body would ache for him in whatever place I ended up, whether in Heaven, Hell, or someplace in between, I did not want him returning to Italy. I wanted him to keep living the best he could.

As much as I wished I could be selfish enough to wish him to be with me, I could not do that, I had to be selfless. His family was behind in Earth, living, or at least the best that vampires could live. He had to remain behind to support his family, to be with them as he was with them before me, during me, and will be after me. He would survive after me. And that gave me a sense of confidence, knowing that regardless of what happened next, regardless of where I would end up, Edward was alive, with his family. That gave me a since of renewal, in this current deplorable situation.

But, what situation was this? Is this the clichéd tunnel spoken about in legends, about the time till I saw the light? And as if someone heard my proverbial thoughts, I could see a distant light through the slits in my eyes. My eyes were closed, yet the light that peeked through the slits was near blinding me.

And yet, at this moment, I felt as though my body was renewed. All the pain, suffering, and agony I went through were gone. And, even better, my body was not numb with the emotions; it was not remaining dormant to remain alive. My body, my spirit were renewed, bathed in a shower of rebirth.

I found, with the new power strength, the ability to sit up. I moved my arms backwards and placed my palms on the ground near my thighs. Yet, I did not feel the smoothness of the sheet, yet I felt the prickles of blades on grass. Immensely intrigued by the new feeling, I opened my eyes.

The light coming through the trees first blinded my intake of the area around me, but then I saw it and gasped…

I was in the meadow, yet this was not the exact meadow Edward had taken to me. It was on some levels, yet on others it was completely different. It looked as though all sins, all negative aspects whatsoever had been replaced with more beauty. The light from the sun made the green twinkle throughout the air. The canopy of trees in the distance appeared as though they were clouds nearing the earth. It was perfect… I suppose this was Heaven or Heaven to me.

The beauty failed to keep me rooted to the ground. Of all the places I could have gone, I came here, to the place that will always be the most special reminder of him. The sheer notion that this was the place where I would spend forever was daunting, yet amazing at the same time. Even if he was not here, I would always be connected to him.

"Hello, Bella, dear," a voice called, which brought me out of my reprieve. I looked up to see a beautiful, middle-aged woman standing around twenty paces in the center of the meadow. I looked at her closely. The light bounced off her skin and caused it to glow. Not sparkle, yet shine in a light of happiness, maybe even pride. My eyes continued to move across her, taking in her appearance. I moved up to her face. Her crooked smile was oddly familiar, as well her beautiful green eyes. And her hair was oddly tainted with a smidge of red…she reminded me of him…she looked like Edward.

"Hello?" I said, as though questioning my entire existence. Questions radiated throughout my mind… _Who was she? Where was I? Was I dead? Is this Heaven?_

"I imagine that you have numerous questions, dear. I will be gladly to answer them in all due time." She smiled at me and walked over to where I was lying in the grass. "Do you mind if I sit with you for a while?" She asked not taking her eyes away from my face.

"No."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Bella. My name is Elizabeth Masen." As soon as the words left her mouth, my ears did a double take on their meaning. She must have seemed my hesistance.

"I am Edward's mother." She replied back, shaking her head in a combination of pride and glee.

"It's pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Masen."

"Please, call me Elizabeth. I feel as though I know you so well already." This comment intrigued me deeply. Even though she was Edward's mother, how does she know me so well?

"Sorry, my dear. I have not explained myself at all. Ever since I died due to the flu, I have been watching over my son daily. I am lucky enough to be able to enjoy time with my husband, yet we both find pleasure in looking out for our son. I have watched him over the decades closely; both succeed and fail in life's many adventures. I have watched him to my most delight and happiness fall in love with you. Never have I been as happy as I am now."

"Elizabeth," my voice shaking with a new found curiosity of mine of a comment Edward mentioned months ago, "did you know that Carlisle was a vampire when you asked him to watch over your son? Are you glad…" My voice finally broke off with the last question, unable to voice my last concerns of whether or not she was happy that her son was immortal. Her eyes glowed at my question and understood my intention.

"Yes and no, my dead. I knew that Carlisle was something, something other than human for sure. And if I was wrong, I knew that he was the most capable person to help my son. I knew that Carlisle would be able to help him in a way no one else could. As for your second question, I assume that you are curious of whether I regret my decision to ask Carlisle to save him."

I nodded my head in reply.

"I have never regretted that decision a day of my life. When Edward was placed in that situation, he was seventeen years of age, too young, too inexperienced of the world outside him. He had not experienced life completely. And to not wish for him to live longer would impede on the greatest gift a mother can give his son, life…and happiness. If his life would have ended that day, he would have never known the best treasures in life. He would never have experienced love, which you kindly shown him.

"I will not say that I was not surprised when I came to understand what my son became, that he was a vampire. I had always thought them simple legends. Yet, regardless of the physical changes my son went through, he did not change. He always remained the same wonderful man that I raised, the same wonderful man that I love with every fiber of my being.

"And then I saw him grow in the ways that a mother wishes their child to grow. Of course, he made his mistakes. And due to his current condition, his mistakes were graver than most. Yet, he learned from them and continued to live the best way he could.

"And as the years go by, I see the love and kindness that his family bestows on him. A love that mirrors my own and I am happy that he is there to enjoy it. Carlisle and Esme are the best two people I could wish to watch over my son, in addition to the wonderful people that he now calls his siblings. This life has given him siblings, something that I was unable to give to him during my life.

"And now, the best has come into his life, you. Every smile upon his face is caused by your presence, and I can never thank you enough for making him happy. It is a mother's dream for their child to be happy, and you fulfilled it.

"I look down upon your head and see my ring that Edward's father gave me so many years ago, and I realize that I could never pick some one better to be with Edward. You are the perfect match, and the love between you two is one that is hardly ever matched." As she finished her speech, I realized that my eyes were not brimming with tears only because I was unable to cry. Each word of her speech made my heart roar with happiness and pride. Yet, how could she think so highly of me? I was so simple plain and not perfect compared to her son, the love of my life.

"Thank you so much. I love your son beyond all words. He makes my life worth living."

"I know Bella, and I thank you." We spent the next moment completely locked in silence, a moment of fresh air that blew in. It was calm and peaceful as it lay across the meadow.

"Elizabeth, where am I?" I whispered quietly, trying to not ruin the mood.

It is quite complicated, yet I will do my best. You, my dear, are currently in a place between the living and the dead, Heaven. I believe the most accurate term to describe it is _Limbo_, a middle ground."

"I thought I was dead with everything that happened…"

"You would have been, if Edward did not come in when he did."

"Edward?"

"Yes, Edward walked into the room and bit you."

"Shouldn't I be a vampire now? Or transforming?" I questioned. From what I knew of vampires, I should have been withering in pain currently slowly dying not here.

"Your body, darling, is transforming. However, he nearly lost you. With the combination of the damage to your body and the poison those _men_ injected you with, you really should be dead. If my son had walked in a second later, then he would have been too late. He was almost too late. I believe they all are still unaware of whether or not you will wake up, unless Alice has seen anything." Her voice was sweet and kind, even when she spoke of the crimes the men had committed. She had the love and caring ability, of Esme, yet her entire personality and tone mirrored Edward's.

"Then why I am here while my body is there?"

"For many reasons, my dear. The most crucial one is that Edward was on the line between saving you and it being to late. If he was indeed too late, you still would have come to this place before Heaven. He was so close to losing you, he almost lost you, yet he was able to grab a string of you when he arrived. I am unsure of how to explain it. He was just able to keep your body at that moment. Your mind, your soul was already gone, yet you will return to it in two days. The other reasons, though not nearly as important or crucial, are a little more personal."

"Personal?"

"Bella, I hate to bring it up so soon. But, what the men did to you was the lowest base of humanity there is in the world. You have been lucky enough to have had experienced that level before, even with James or with the Volturi. They took your entire control. This place is offered as a way for you to regain your ideas, if possible, of the world and of humanity before being thrown back into life. A break from humanity if you may…

"Additionally, the transformation is extremely painful. You are able to escape the pain. Furthermore, Edward is able to not see the pain that the transformation causes. He would have been in constant agony if he was there while you were in pain. It is a blessing to him that he does not see that torture."

"But, doesn't he wonder where I am? What is happening?"

"Of course. But, his emotional pain would have been greater if you were awake."

"I see."

"Bella, I have a favor to ask you. I hope that you do not mind me asking." She asked shyly.

"No, of course not. I will be happy to do anything."

"When you wake up, my son will be incredibly guilty. He thinks that you will be upset with him. He thinks that you will be angry that you were transformed. He continues to believe that you deserve Heaven after enduring Hell on Earth. He believes that he just sentenced an angel to Hell forever. I am asking you that when you return that you try to make him not feel that. I know you will do your best, but please it's the only thing that I could ask of you. This somewhat relates to this being a break for you. If you understand what I mean?"

Her words brought a new meaning to this place, and a flood of thoughts flashed through my mind. Edward was blaming himself. Not only was he blaming himself for not saving me from the men, he was blaming himself from biting me. How much self-guilt could one person have? Currently, Edward was blaming himself for every second he had left me along while this atrocity occurred. He felt responsible for allowing this to happen… yet how does one even allow this to happen? It just happens.

It is not his fault. It is life. I do not know how Alice did not see the beginning of the act, while I was away from La Push, but she didn't. It was a split second decision to change roads and swing. When else does an eighteen year old decide to have a trip down memory lane by swinging? It was just one of life's many choices… Perhaps it was being in this place or maybe almost dying, yet a new sense of perspective and calm came over me.

Not only I have to take in consideration Edward's guilt, but I needed to realize the affect that experience had on me, on my body. As I sat in the meadow, all of a sudden, it felt as though I was reliving every blow to my body all over again. I could hear the words that John spoke as he took control of me. I could feel the thrusts inside my body and the blows to my skin. The sensation of the blood flowing over my body was able to be felt on my legs, on my arms, all over my skin. I was reliving every moment of the torture.

The pain was again the same mountainous agony that once crippled my body, yet I pushed it away from my mind as the wind continued to blow into the meadow. I would never stop fighting, that's what I said the moment I realized I was going to experience that torture. I promised myself and Edward that I would not surrender. I would never surrender, and I surely would never surrender now.

That is what the men wanted all along in addition to the physical satisification. They wanted the mental acknowledgement that they had control over me, that they broke me. They wanted to make me lose all control, feel as though I would never have control again over my body. Each man aspired to make me feel like I was not worth anything, simple filth, used and discarded. Yet, I would never feel those things. Never would I feel them. For the moment I did, I surrendered.

It was not about being strong and not letting your emotions through. It was not about trying to bottle up the past and not comfort it. It was knowing the truth. That no matter how many blows my body took and how many times they had me… they did not have control over me. They would never take my spirit or my life. As clichéd as it might sound, no matter what they did, they would never break that. I would not let them.

At this moment, sitting in this meadow, I realized the future. I knew what I was going to do. I was going to go back and make Edward realize that this was not his fault. Life is unpredictable, as much as Alice tries to convince everyone it is not. Things can happen at a moment's glance, and all anyone can do is react the best way they can. Good things happen in addition to bad things. This was a bad thing, yet as they always say, "Without the thorns, the rose would not smell as sweet." Maybe those proverbs did have some meaning in life. Meaning in life, that I would continue to show to Edward. I would tell him as many times as it took that I was happy that he bit me, that he kept me. For as much as he might realize that I am living in Hell, that he kept me from Heaven, that he damned me forever, or whatever else he would say, Heaven would never be Heaven without him. And I would only every want to be with him…

As I felt the blades on grass continue to touch my feet, I realized the strength that Rosalie displayed to live past an event like this. The strength that I would have every moment of the rest of entirety. Yet, in my mind, it was not strength. It would not be hard to live forever, unlike some people might think. I would not shy away from men due to the lack of trust those men shod me. I would not lose my sense of self or being. I would not feel like filth or used goods. I would not feel any emotions that they tried to inflict upon me. Not because of strength, but I know who I am, and they cannot take that away from me. No matter what they did or what anyone ever does…they cannot take that away from me. Never.

"Thank-you." I smiled at her as I lifted my head to look into her beautiful green eyes, that I imagined that Edward had as a human. "I understand the _personal_ reasons why I am here, and I thank you."

"I assume that you would. You are a very intelligent woman, Bella." If I had to ability to blush, I knew that I would. Yet, either due to the current location or my changing body, I was unable to feel the rush of red to my cheeks. I could only reply a simple thank you.

"Just wondering, but how is this possible…this place?" To my shock, my bent her head back and laughed a beautiful, careful laugh that reminded me closely of Edward.

"Bella, I stopped asking the how's a while ago? I stopped asking how whenever I realized that my son became a vampire who fights with werewolves and tried to commit suicide by appealing to the vampire 'royal family.' I stopped asking how whenever my son feel completely in love with a girl born a hundred years after him that makes his world worth living. Now, I just try to take the good and the bad the best way I can." She smiled at me. Her eyes looked as though they would have been brimming with tears under another circumstance. In addition, a strong emotion ran through them… love.

"I can see your point." I replied with a chuckle. I would never have believed that life I was living three years ago, but who ever does? Sometimes life is just too good to be true, even if you have to live though the bad times.

"On a more serious note, I know there is no way that you can be entirely, but are you coping with the tragedy that occurred?" Elizabeth Masen questioned.

"Actually, surprisingly so," I replied. "It is hard to think of being able to bounce back so quickly, but I am."

"It is okay to grieve and experience pain over the experience. You cannot keep everything bottled up. It's not healthy." Her wonderful motherly instincts were shining through with each word.

"I know. The strangest thing is that I am alright with everything that happened, or at least the best way I can be. I know that returning home might be hard, but I know that I am still me, no matter what they did to me. Sometimes, you have to just realize the past and move on. I will never forget the past and I do not want to, because it makes you who you are today. I believe that experience, for lack of better words, will make me stronger. I have seen the worst of humanity, and I would be lying if I said if I did not change due to that. Seeing the worst of humanity has only made me more grateful for the best, which is my life, my family, and most importantly Edward." I spoke with a new found sense of confidence.

The woman came over to my right side and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a gentle hug. I could feel the love that she expressed.

"You are stronger than any else my dear. And I know that Edward will be there to help you if you ever need it."

"I know he will, and I will also be there to prove to him that I am extremely happy with my life."

"I believe you will. I believe you will."

Two days was the amount of time I found out I would spend in this sacred place. As much as though I hated spending it away from Edward, I felt insanely comfortable in the location. His mother and I spent the two days together in the meadow talking about many things. I realized that she was similar to Esme it was uncanny, and she possessed a sense of wisdom that only comes from years of experience. As the hours rolled by, we discussed abstract ideas such of hopes and dreams to concrete items such as books and music. Similar to her son, we entered a periods of constant questioning, understanding each other better. And we bonded even more over the conversations and love of her son, my fiancé…Edward. The conservations were uplifting in many ways. She understood all of feelings, both warranted and unwarranted, due to her insight in the past, love of her son, and a mother's instinct. Any thought, any shred of doubt about anything in the future was wiped away by her words.

Over the two days, she became a mother to me in many ways, wishing good luck and giving advice for the future. Yet, on a deeper level, she was becoming a friend, a perfect confidant. Untroubled by desires of food or drink, the conservation never stopped. It was sensational that throughout all those minutes of conservations never did a moment of unpleasant silence erupt. Moments of thought came and went, yet always the atmosphere was calm and relaxed.

After so much love was shared and so many minutes spent, she stood to her feet. "Bella, it is time to go back."

"Back?" I was unsure at first at what she meant.

"Back to your body. You do have to choice to stay here, yet after all I have seen and heard from you, that would never be your choice."

"Absolutely not, I want to return to Edward." She nodded in reply as her smile grew. I stood up and walked over to where she was. Elizabeth reached out her hand, and I grasped it in reply. She walked me over to the edge of the clearing leading back into the surrounding woods. At the moment where I should have been under the canopy of leaves, the location changed rapidly and I was standing on the porch on the Cullen's house.

"How…" I murmured. She only glanced upon my expression and chuckled. I remembered her beginning words of how "_How's_" left long ago.

"Bella, to return, you need to go up and enter Edward's room. Your body is currently on his bed in life. Lay down on the bed, close your eyes, and imagine yourself falling back into your body. Imagine and feel the desire to return."

"Okay," I replied, a little unsure of myself.

"I am not sure how this works or anything, but it will get you back to Edward. Be safe, my dear. I will walk with you to his room." We walked through the doorway. The room was a direct replica, yet it continued to shimmer in a special, heavenly light. We ambled up the steps and directly in front of the room.

"Bella, before I leave you, I am immensely proud that you will shortly be married to my son. There is not other woman in the world that deserves him more than you do. Your love is immense, and I will always thank you for that. Lastly, I will always love you as though you are my own, my own daughter." The words gripped my mind, and I could not help but grin. I told her many times that I was the one that did not deserve her son during the time in the meadow, but she continued to try to convince me I was mistaken. I nodded unable to gather my voice due to the emotions rippling through my body.

As I grasped the handle to his room, "I love you too, mom," flew from my lips. Elizabeth Masen nodded, and her eyes continued to brim with happiness and love. I opened the door completely, and she shut it behind me. I walked over to the bed and lay down on it. I knew there was no place in the world that I would rather be than with Edward. And as I imagined my soul falling back into my body, I did.

_A/n: Hardest chapter to write, so please review to let me know. Did you like it? What did you hate, if anything? Boring…? Action will be coming up shortly. Love it, hate…please let me know!!_


	11. Chapter 9: Wall Sockets

**Author's Note:**

**This story sadly will be shorter than I originally thought. It will have about three or four more chapters. Some longer ones, some this length. I actually have planned two more stories that I will work on following this and in addition to Shadow of the Day.**

**I have some ideas lined up. I have some interesting ones planned, and I will see what everyone thinks of the ideas later on after they have some more meat to them.**

**Anyway, enjoy this. **

**Twirl**

"Don't Stink Your Fingers into the Wall Sockets"

Luckily I was able to bypass the three- two in my case- days of hellion pain, yet I was unable to escape the pain as my soul, my mind fell back within my body. Talk about an outer body experience…

The pain tore throughout my body. The pain was new, not the fiery of cells crashing of a transformation, but almost electrocuting pain of every fiber within my body becoming reattached. Each nerve, ever neutron was binding together… the mind and body were combining, and it hurt like Hell. I could feel my spine slowly realigning to each nerve, each moment I could feel the electricity circulating throughout my body.

As each nerve throbbed in pain, I still unable to hear Edward, to hear his family…the darkness was capturing my entire world. Darkness everywhere… left…right…down… up… the darkness was everywhere. No light from my previous location transferred…all darkness… all the darkness of possibly…of possibly Hell.

Seconds passed, and the pain continued. Unaware of the time, unaware of the events transpiring outside the walls of darkness, my only companion was the pain. And then after the seconds passed… a familiar voice passed through my mind. Please, let it be Edward. I need it. I need to talk to him again. Yet, as the words continued to make sense within the world of darkness, I realized it was not Edward. It was his mother.

_Just seconds longer, my dear. I am sorry that I did not warn you about the pain. _Unable to talk and move, I agreed to her statement. She did not cause this pain. _Oh Bella, I will never fully leave you. Remember that. _ Elizabeth continued to say in my mind. Her voice was a welcome oasis from the pain. As her words passed through my mind, I was able to prolong feeling the agony of the electrocuting sensation. I had peace of mind.

Finally, there as light at the end of the tunnel, as clichéd as it might sound. The darkness was beginning to lighten up. I could make out an ounce of light, of hope. Even in the darkness of times, happiness can always be found, as long as you remember to turn on the light. (A/N: From Harry Potter)

_Tell my son, Bella, that I love him, please. _And with those as the last words from my guardian angel, the light soon took over all the darkness. Every little crack was filled with blinding light, every knock and cranny was dissolved of the sin. As though a great purge of evil transpired, the light overtook everything, and the pain ended. And with the pain ending, my eyes finally opened.

Back in Phoenix many years ago, I remember a day when I had a very boring conversation with my grandmother. Boring, perhaps does not even describe it. We did not talk about life choices or even the latest media crisis. We discussed the invention of glasses. I know, it is highly interesting. Somehow, we came across the idea of when a person puts on classes for the first time. I remember her saying that it was as though for the first time you could actually see. Every minute detail, usually missed, came to left. A new realm of clarity feel over every object and scene. It was the difference between day and night.

That was the sensation as I opened my eyes to the world for the first time as a vampire. Every color was magnified within the room… Edward's room. The gold radiated with the shadow of light that was entering the room. I could see the individual fibers on the wall. I could feel the thread counts upon the sheet. Yet all of this was meaningless compared to the first time I looked upon my savior…Edward.

"Bella." A musical tone sounded in the room.

"Bella, can you hear me love?" The voice sounded again. It was hopeful, yet sounds of despair, agony, and regret shone though. It was to this that I finally opened my eyes to what- rather whom- was in the room. My eyes fell upon Edward. His hair was as disheveled as ever, yet the circles under his eyes were more pronounced. His eyes were black, yet mournful.

"Yes." I crocked out. My voice was different, almost musical- so similar to Edward's.

"Oh, Bella. I am so happy that you are awake. Are you alright?" Edward continued to question with an underlining source of pain echoing throughout his words.

"Yes, I feel fine."

"Fine?"

"Better than fine actually."

"I am glad. And Bella, I am so sorry. Please, please forgive. I will spend forever trying to make it up to you. I am sorry."

"Sorry for what? You saved my life."

"I damned your life-" Edward began but I count him off.

"She told me that you would blame yourself," I mumbled softly to myself. "Edward, I am happy. I am extremely happy to be here with you. You saved me, and gave me what I have always wanted… an entirety with you."

"But after what those men…"

"Edward, thank you. You did not damn an angel back to Hell." I repeated those words that Elizabeth told me that Edward would be feeling. "And there is no Heaven without you." I continued.

"But Bella…"

"No, Edward. You were already going to give me entirety with you. The time table just got bumped up a couple of weeks. I am happy."

"I hate to bring it up, but how can you be alright, love, after what those men did to you?"

"Um… I…." I was unsure how to phrase the fact that I had a two-day conversation with Edward's deceased mother.

"What Bella? What happened? And who is the she?"

"Well…"

"Bella, I promise I will believe you. I trust you."

"Due to the actions of the men," I began. I chose to say actions rather to a more accurate term due to upsetting Edward even more. "I was dying. When you bit me, you managed to save me, however I was almost too gone, which is why I was unconscious. It is why you thought I might not wake up." Edward nodded, yet the confusion upon his face grew. "I ended up going to a middle ground between Earth and Heaven, limbo, some call. Well, I was there I met someone, and I had a long conversation with her."

"Who? Do I know the woman?"

"Edward, it was your mom." I said, moving my eyes down away from his.

"What?"

"Elizabeth greeted me there. She kept me company during my time there. By the way…she told me that she is proud of you and loves you." The look upon Edward's face grew into a look of admiration. A look of admiration that continued to grow as I retold my tale with Elizabeth…


	12. Chapter 10: Halo in Hell

Disbelief was not an accurate word to describe the shock in Edward's eyes

Author's Note:

I am deeply sorry for the lack of updates. Due to reviews, especially 4getme, I was compelled to finish this. It is short, because it was on a whim. It shows and highlights the next leg of the story. For those that wanted drama, well… look here.

Song: Halo by Bethany Joy Lenz (One Tree Hill star)

Love it, hate it. Let me know. Reviews are great!

Twirlon

**Halo**

Disbelief was not an accurate word to describe the shock in Edward's eyes. The color of his eyes began to swirl and turn in turmoil.

"Are you sure?" Edward questioned me. I was slightly taken back by this. We are vampires for goodness sakes and he is questioning MY SANITY. I could not change what had happened in the meadow or in my unconscious state.

"Absolutely," I replied.

"It does make somewhat sense about how calm you are and relax."

"Yes, and I really did enjoy talking to your mother." My eyes turned downcast at the entire idea that I got to experience time with Edward's mother, but Edward, himself, was not afforded the same curtsey.

"Let's go downstairs and discuss this with Carlisle and everyone. They have been worried almost as much as I have been. I almost had to restrain Alice from leaping up the steps to hug you." Edward muttered with a gleam in his eye. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, and Edward pulled me up into his arms giving a still chaste kiss. I suppose it would take time to increase the physical side of the relationship.

Walking down the stairs, I grabbed a hold of the banister causing it to dissolve in splinters. I turned towards Edward worried about destroying Esme's beautiful creation, yet he just returned his crooked smile.

"BELLLLLLAA!" I heard from the living room. Alice ran up to me and locked me in a tight grip. If I was alive, I would have surely have perished due to the impact. Yet, the impacts just continued by each of the family members.

"Bella, if it is all right, could you please discuss what happed to you?" Carlisle questioned. Yet, I saw his eyes flicker to Edward's face, and Carlisle nodded.

"Please, stop that," I uttered.

"Bella, I do not think it is the best idea." Edward replied looking around the room.

"Why, I just told you about the conversation and the events."

"Yes, you did. But you didn't talk about the…um…. rape, itself." I noticed that as he spoke his fists clenched and unclenched in pure rage.

"I should be fine." I whispered, yet everyone could hear it. I thought I could tell the tale, so I began.

The audience remained silence as I told the story. I told about the car ride to the bookstore. I told about taking the walk through the park. I told about swinging on a swing, and then I realized that I had to tell what happened next. I had to tell them all, here, about it, about how they touched me, and how they drugged me. I had to tell about how those cruel men touched me, touched me in places that Edward even had not yet. I had to tell them about how I was embarrassed and degraded beyond any low. I couldn't it. I just couldn't. Who was I fooling here? I could not tell the story, and for more than just one reason.

For I knew, as soon as Edward and his family knew the entire tale, they would be in disgrace. Who would want a "dirty" fiancé as a new member of a family? Who would want that disgrace in their life? I would only cause them shame, especially Edward. Poor, poor Edward. I could not do that to him. He deserved someone that was perfect, like him. He deserved someone that believed deeply in sins and virtues as he did. He deserved someone that was still as innocent as him. He deserved someone that was not raped. I was not good anymore. I was spoiled goods. I was brutally raped and drugged and molested and embarrassed, and beaten, and bruised, and poisoned. I would only cause shame to this wonderful family….I could not tell them. I could not seal my fate in their eyes, well at least not yet. And, they did not deserve the presence of my life in their presence. I needed to help them all. I needed to get out of here.

"I am sorry…so sorry," I got up and ran out of the door. It was not a plan. I wanted to go up to the room to take a break. Yet, somehow, whether consciously or subconsciously I knew that I needed to go away. I needed to leave this area. I needed to sacrifice my happiness, so that Edward could have his. Edward deserved someone that is perfect, and that is not me. And of course, even if Edward loathed me for the actions, he would try to suffer it out to please me and help me. I could not let him be unhappy. I needed to take myself out of the picture. I needed to leave him, I needed to leave him for a while, if not forever, and so I ran. I ran as fast as I could ever run. I ran over tree branches, over rivers, and father and farther as I went the less and less I remembered the words that Edward's mother taught me about forgiveness and acceptance.

Edward had given me so much in my life… it was time I returned the favor by leaving, by leaving forever…


	13. Chapter 11: How to Save a Life

Devil's Advocate

How to Save a Life

"_I am sorry…so sorry," I got up and ran out of the door. It was not a plan. I wanted to go up to the room to take a break. Yet, somehow, whether consciously or subconsciously I knew that I needed to go away. I needed to leave this area. I needed to sacrifice my happiness, so that Edward could have his. Edward deserved someone that is perfect, and that is not me. And of course, even if Edward loathed me for the actions, he would try to suffer it out to please me and help me. I could not let him be unhappy. I needed to take myself out of the picture. I needed to leave him, I needed to leave him for a while, if not forever, and so I ran. I ran as fast as I could ever run. I ran over tree branches, over rivers, and father and farther as I went the less and less I remembered the words that Edward's mother taught me about forgiveness and acceptance._

_Edward had given me so much in my life… it was time I returned the favor by leaving, by leaving forever…_

Eventually, my feet stopped moving almost unconsciously. I looked around for the first time to actually notice my surroundings. The air would have felt cold upon my check if I was still human.

The entire concept was so strange to me. I was human just so little ago, and I thought I wanted this so much. And at that time, I did; I wanted it more than anything else in the entire world. Yet, now…yet, now I was alone in this world for the first time in my birth. I was lost. I did not know what to do. I could not return home to my family, for I was just recently turned. And my vampire family was not another option. My presence would only cause grief and despair. Edward was such a worthy and honest person that he would not come out and just tell me that he found me disgusting. He would continue living with the lie. And I could not allow him to do that. He deserved Tanya; she was perfect for him. She was beautiful and everything that he should have in a mate. That would be what I would do…. I would go and get Tanya. If I could not be there for him, I would at least set something up for him, and then… and then I do not know. Eternity is unpromising when your promise dies.

I turned and started running in the direction of Alaska. Yet, to my left came a house. And with the house, the sweetest smell I have ever had the pleasure of smelling burned through my nostrils. There were humans living in the house.

Whenever, Edward had talked about the desires of blood, I almost thought he was exaggerating them. Yet, this was not like the smell of chocolate chip cookies when you are a child. It is your entire body burning for something. Your entire body is on pain for denying the substance. And my body felt that. And with something that felt like the switch of a light, my body, not someone else's, started running towards the cabin. My hand tore off the front door. The wood dissolving into splinters… and then I looked into the cabin. A family of four lay within the cabin. It was the simplest type of accommodations. There were two beds in the house: one for the parents and another one that house two children, two little girls. And for the briefest second, I was able to understand what my body was compelling me to do. I thought of how bad it was, and how diabolical it was. I thought about their lives, their hopes, their dreams. I thought about the love they shared. And I thought about the promises I made in my mind when I said I desired to be a vampire. Yet, those days of desiring to be a vampire were so long ago… seemed like eons ago that I wanted this fate. It was now something that I was bound to. It was a sentence forever.

And after that brief second of understanding my actions, I knew that no matter how hard I tried I could not stop myself. I was not in control of my body; my senses were. I tore throughout the room, reaching the parents first. Savagely biting into the father, screams erupted throughout the cabin. Yet, those did not matter to me. Only the sweet taste of the blood cursing through my empty veins did. It offered some relief as I sucked every last drop of sweet nectar she had. However, I wanted more… I needed more.

Grabbing the father from behind the neck, the vampire instincts in me twisted his neck…killing him. And again, I filled my veins of his blood. At that moment, I wish I had relief from the burning monster, yet I did not. No matter how much I tried to compel myself from that room, I could not. And no matter, how hard I tried to walk away. I could not walk away from those two children. And within five minutes, the entire family of four laid dead on the ground when finally the monster was gone.

Knowing that I had to burn the evidence, I burned the house using coals from the fire. I could not look back… I started to run.

Why did I run? Running was the only thing I could do that could stop me from crying? Do you know what I mean? When something so bad, so horrendous happens that you know you could cry for days on end? However, if you let your body cry, your body would collapse. You could not handy that much pain at one time. You had to do something to stop the rush of pain… read a book, watch a movie…run. And I running as fast as I could, yet not matter how fast I ran… no distance could make me out run my past. And eventually, the rush occurred, and I collapsed. I collapsed lost to the world.

I do not know how long I cried for. I do not know how many hours or days or years I remained lying against that try. Time ends up dissolving into meaningless divisions of pain when you are a vampire or when you are a demon too evil to truly exist. Nor do I know how many trees I destroyed in my anger. I cried for everything that happened. I cried for the rape of my body and mind. I cried for disappointing Edward. I cried for leaving Edward, yet knowing it had to be done. And I cried for what I had become… a savage killing monster. Words…. Simple words, composed of several letters could not, and will never be able to describe the emotions that I felt during that time. People say pain, and they saw despair, and they saw heart-ache. Yet, those mean NOTHING! They mean nothing to me. They are simply words. And how do I know they mean nothing, because I doubt that the creator murdered four people in cold blood…

And as I lied there, I wondered as the sun rose and set how it could continue to do that. I wondered how the world could really continue to spin when I completed the worst crime known to man. I murdered children. I murdered family, and I ended love. I ended love, which seems to seem what monsters like me are experts at.

And monsters only should be allowed to stay in Hell… or on Earth Volturi. That is where I would go… I would go to Italy.

**Author's Note:**

**I know it is very short. It was just a short installment. I have tons of things to do with school and life. After November 1, I will be updating a lot more, and I want to work on new story ideas. Writing always brings me hope to my life, that regardless of how bad life can get… you can express it in literature, and reviews can make even the worst day bad. The next chapter will be in Edward's POV. Review.**

**Twirl**


	14. Chapter 12: From Sea to Shining Sea

Last time on "My Happy Ending":

_And as I lied there, I wondered as the sun rose and set how it could continue to do that. I wondered how the world could really continue to spin when I completed the worst crime known to man. I murdered children. I murdered family, and I ended love. I ended love, which seems to seem what monsters like me are experts at._

_And monsters only should be allowed to stay in Hell… or on Earth Volturi. That is where I would go… I would go to Italy._

From Sea to Shining Sea

You know how your mother would lecture about the ability for you to achieve anything you want. You know the clichéd saying, "When there is a will, there is a way." Well…well, that may be true to a point. Yet, your mother was not a vampire. Just because, one wants to do something does not mean technically you can. Not everything is possible. Sorry, to disappoint you. Everything is not possible, just like I found out it is not just possible to apparate (like Harry Potter) into the Volturi Castle.

As I lay on the ground somewhere in the northern part of America or Canada, I knew that my options were limited. I wanted to die. It was the simple. I wanted to end my life. Monsters were not supposed to be on Earth. I would just continue to harm innocent people like I did. My demise was needed. However, how could I make it to Italy without harming countless people? How could I achieve my goal? The plane would be the only way of transportation, yet to do so, would put hundreds of people at risk. I would not want to harm another soul and the plane was the only option.

I needed time. I needed more time. I remember somewhere from the past that all problems could be solved with time. That terrible heartache that kills your entire body and soul only gets better with time. I remember Renee, even with her craziness and insanity, that occurrence that every problem will get better with every passing second. Time can heal all wounds, and I needed time to get over the blood lust, or perhaps I would need to find other vampires. Finding other vampires would allow me to gather help learning how to control it. No, better yet, if I found another vampire, I could ask…no question…no beg them to end my life him or herself. It would not be the hard. The "badder" the vampire, the easier it would be them to kill a vampire that was asking for it. It would be my final goal. Now, I only needed to find some vampires. How hard could it be to find another vampire? It could not be that hard, could it?

Edward's Point of View

*Picks up after Bella runs out of the house

"I am sorry…so sorry," Bella whispered to us, and then she ran. What did she have to be sorry about? What possibilly in the entire damned world did she have to be sorry about? She was the most innocent and beautiful creature in this entire world of darkness. She was the only source of light in the endless darkness. She was my sun, she was my world. And I had failed her. I caused her so much pain and heartache. If it was not for me, she would have remained pure and safe. She would have been safe, and we would have been married at this moment instead of being apart. It was my entire fault. I caused my Angel to see the Hell that she was being sentenced to. I caused this. What did she have to be sorry about? I was the one that was sorry, and I was planning to make it up to her for the rest of forever, until… until that moment when she started to run.

And I just remained a statue, not moving, not daring to move a single inch. Because if I did, I would simply crumble. I told Bella countless days before to remain safe, because I left my heart with her. She had my heart, and now it was gone. The central part of my being, the reason that I continued to live each moment, the reason that I was going to enjoy the rest of eternity left as suddenly as the wind blew through the room. She was gone. And I was alone.

_What is wrong? She cannot be gone. We were happy. _Esme wept mentally.

_My baby sister is gone. What the Hell did Edward do to her? EDWARD! _Emmett screamed in his mind. Emmett was right. It was all my fault. I knew that long ago. Everything was my fault.

_She was showing so much pain, so much heartache, yet so much guilt. Edward, she left because she was guilty and out of love. Why did she do that? _Jasper questioned making sense out of her scattered emotions.

_Why did I not see this? Why, oh, why did I not see this? I should have stopped it. It is all my fault. _Alice mourned.

"No Alice," I whispered, "it is mine. All mine. I have no idea why she was guilty. It is I that am guilty."

"She was guilty?" Rosalie speaking up for the first time, both physically and mentally.

"Yeah, she was, why?" I replied to her questions.

"Oh no, oh no," Rosalie muttered to herself.

"WHAT? What did you do to her, Rosalie? God help you, you tell me now." I threatened not caring about what I did to Rosalie.

"Edward…" both Emmett and Esme chastised.

"I felt the same, Edward. I felt the same after I was raped years ago." Rosalie muttered quietly as a look of grief and remembrance came over her face.

"Why?" I replied.

"She feels guilty for you. She feels as though she is dirty, used…spoiled. She feels that she does not deserve you. She thinks you deserve someone that is not spoiled… I felt the same." Rosalie explained.

"You felt the same?" Emmett questioned looking at Rosalie with a sense of love and pain.

"I felt I did not deserve you when I first met you," Rosalie muttered as Emmett swept her into a loving embrace.

"Why would she feel that? That is insane." A sense of rage filled me body. I needed an outlet. I flew over to the wall punching my fist clear through the drywall, which did not even respond in a remark for Esme. She felt my same sense of rage and confusion.

"Edward, I cannot see her." Alice stated.

"Not at all?" I replied.

"No… it seems as though she almost started blocking me on purpose. Perhaps, she does not want us to see her." Alice reported.

"Shit," I cursed.

"Edward."

"Who cares? She is gone, and we do not have any idea where she is. We have to go after her. Now."

"She must be so scared and alone. Poor girl." Esme muttered.

"Her blood lost must be insatiable." Carlise reported, "Perhaps, we could track her. She could not have gone that far, even with her new strength. We could have the Denali's help us find her. She probably would have run North. Maybe, we are able to block her off."

"Good idea. Let's go." I decided as we all left the room as a group. We needed Bella, we needed to rebuild our family.

Next Chapter: Bella finds some vampires. Will they be willing to help or not?

_**Update Status:**__ I have a lot of days off from school. I know I have not been very up to date with updates, yet I want to finish this story and make it soar. I will update before Sunday again. See you all soon, and please review. They add tons of inspiration and really make me want to write. I would love to have 100 reviews. Thanks. Twirlon_


	15. Chapter 13: A Teller

**A Teller**

EPOV (At the house in Forks):

"Bella feels guilty for you. She feels as though she is dirty, used…spoiled. She feels that she does not deserve you. She thinks you deserve someone that is not spoiled… I felt the same." Rosalie explained.

"You felt the same?" Emmett questioned looking at Rosalie with a sense of love and pain.

"I felt I did not deserve you when I first met you," Rosalie muttered as Emmett swept her into a loving embrace.

"Why would she feel that? That is insane." A sense of rage filled me body. I needed an outlet. I flew over to the wall punching my fist clear through the drywall, which did not even respond in a remark for Esme. She felt my same sense of rage and confusion.

"Edward, I cannot see her." Alice stated.

"Not at all?" I replied.

"No… it seems as though she almost started blocking me on purpose. Perhaps, she does not want us to see her." Alice reported.

"Shit," I cursed.

"Edward."

"Who cares? She is gone, and we do not have any idea where she is. We have to go after her. Now."

"She must be so scared and alone. Poor girl." Esme muttered.

"Her blood lost must be insatiable." Carlise reported, "Perhaps, we could track her. She could not have gone that far, even with her new strength. We could have the Denali's help us find her. She probably would have run North. Maybe, we are able to block her off."

"Good idea. Let's go." I decided as we all left the room as a group. We needed Bella, we needed to rebuild our family.

BPOV (In Canada)

Off running again. Running tends to be the nature of the day. Run there, run here. It reminded me of the poem from English, a class that seemed so long ago, yet really it was just a breath ago. "Here's hell, there's Heaven…" from "One wants a teller in a time like this." Isn't it so true… _He_ might have been right. Vampires might be damned to spend forever in purgatory after death, or they might just cease to be. But, one thing he did not state. Hell and heaven are all around us, every moment of every day. Heaven is not a place where you go when you die: it is moment in life when he finally feel alive. And Hell… well I truly understand what it meant to be in Hell.

_One wants a teller in a time like this_

I continued running. Edward was right about another thing, isn't it his lucky day today. Time is such a different entire element to vampires. As a human, I could simply not understand what he meant, and I think it is not possible to understand as a human. As a human, we hold the measure of time as a precious idea. It is our lives, it is our existence. Yet, as a vampire, you have endless amount of time. It is in surplus. It is okay to drain it. Hell, it is sometimes nice to waste time. Hours that felt like days are now the same measure in my mind as mere minutes or even seconds. So, as I am running throughout the countryside, time does not seem to pass. It just is. I am just. I am the rock. I am the rock outside the circle of life. I do not live, feel, or love after the crime I committed. I took human lives and smashed them to death with that same rock.

_One cannot walk this winding street with pride,_

_Straight-shouldered, tranquil eyed…_

In the distance, with the new improved eye-sight, I begin to see something in the distance. It is a town, not a large one or small. It is almost a village secluded by the forces of the world. It is almost like I am, secluded from humanity. I can see the mountains in the distance, capped with peril white snow that glistens like diamonds in the sun. I can see the endless rows upon rows of evergreens that stand as a barrier to the merciless forces of Mother Nature. I can even see the small center of the town and all the humans running there and here. The roof-top of a small church in the distance. I stop as fast as I started. I could not go any farther. If I went any farther, I would surely hurt them. If I went any further, I would continue to smash another life with my proverbial rock. Yet, for some reason, I was compelled to go farther. I started down from my perch on the hillside into the valley, still separated from the town. I continued into the realms of my true Hades.

_One is not sure if or why or how,_

_One wants a teller now._

EPOV

"Perhaps, we need to call Tanya and her coven first. We can warn her and see if she has seen anything yet," Esme announced to the family. The idea seemed to meet everyone's agreement.

"Thank you Esme." I responded. _I just want our family to be whole again_. Esme responded to me. _Bella does not deserve any of this pain_. I nodded again in agreement to my adopted mother's thoughts. Yet, at the same time, I could not help but think that it was I that deserved the pain. It was I that caused her to suffer like it.

_Stop with the guilt, Edward. It will not help Bella, now_. Jasper chastised.

"I will call her," Carlisle announced as he pulled out his own cell phone. He quickly dialed the number as the rest of the family waited to depart.

"Hello, Tanya," Carlisle greeted.

_"Oh, Carlisle. How nice it is to hear from you? How are you doing? How is your family?" _Tanya responded in earnest.

"We are doing well," I could hear Emmett cough in contradiction. "Well, actually we have a slight problem."

"_Does it deal with the cancellation of the wedding?"_ Tanya questioned. The wedding… I did not even think about the wedding with everything that was going on. What happened? Where is everyone? Oh no, what are we going to do? _Don't worry Edward, I contacted everyone and said that an emergency happened. It is okay. We can reschedule_. RESCHEDULE? Good god, this is not a simple hair appointment. It is my wedding: it is our wedding.

"Yes. To make a long story short, Bella had to be transformed earlier than expected, and due to a variety of reasons, she ran away from the family. We have reason to believe that she may be up North. We wanted to come up to look for her, and see if you could help."

_"We would be happy, and we will keep our eyes open. How long till we see you? Everyone else is currently hunting."_

"Hopefully tomorrow. We will see you then."

_"I will let everyone else know. Have a good drive. See you tomorrow."_

"Bye Tanya, and thank you." And with that, the phone call was over, and the cars began running…

BPOV

A scent blew in from the East. A scent that unlike the sweet smell of humans, a scent that actually calmed my nerves. It was normal, it was tradition… it was the smell of vampires. Perhaps they can help me. No… they would not want to help me. They would kill me. Surely… no, they wouldn't. Vampires are almost expected to kill humans. It is the nature of the monster. I killed four people, so I was living up to my nature, a nature that I wanted to end. The vampires might not be vegetarians, yet they could be. If they drank from humans, they would not chastise my actions, and they would be able to help me. They would be able to help me kill myself, if needed. And if they were vegetarians, if they were the true opposite of the act I just committed, maybe they would be inclined to help grant my last wish. Who knows… only one way to tell. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

_Put on rubbers and you won't catch a cold,_

_Here's Hell, there's Heaven, go to Sunday School._

I came upon an old Victorian-style mansion in the middle of a snow covered field bordered with rows of pine trees. The house appeared similar, yet completely opposite of the Cullen's. While the Cullen's house was open and expressed themselves- almost to let people in, this one kept people out and allowed a secret to happen within the house… it was the true place of people who sought refuge from a world the ripped away life. It was the home of Vampires.

My feet as though they had a mine of their own continued the last part of the "green mile" to the front door. The front of the house had a beautiful wrap-around porch with four steps leading from the path to the front door. The house was doused with blue paint that made it glow in the light reflected from the snow. The front door had double-panned glass that allowed no one to see inside the house, and to the left sat a wide hanging swing that made the porch appear slightly more "homey."

I reached to the door bell and pressed it. I was almost waiting for the trick trap door to drop below my feet. It seemed almost a trap, yet nothing happened. Seconds mirrored into hours. When I was just about to walk away, the door opened to show a woman that possessed strawberry blonde hair that circled her shoulders. The hair framed her beautiful pale face that seemed to in trance the looker. She had the face of a goddess.

"Please, come in. I thought for a moment that you might be the pesky man from a couple miles down till I actually took a moment to revel in the smell of a fellow vampire. Welcome to our house. Please come in," I walked into her house, "My name is Tanya Denali."

_Behold. Love's true and triumphs and God's actual._


End file.
